[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 THE 84TH CONGRESS, AN AUSPICIOUS MARKER FOR A PROUD DEMOCRATIC LEGACY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fattah] is 
recognized during morning business for 4 minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. speaker, I am interested to hear that, from the point 
of view of some, the past 40 years of Democratic leadership in the 
Congress has been disastrous. The Democrats have squandered public 
resources, destroyed national institutions, and in general presided 
over the complete destruction of that ideal called the American Way of 
Life.
  As I look back on those 40 years, a very different picture unfolds 
for me as the legacy of the Democratic Party. And since nothing is so 
liberating or enlightening as a simple statement of the truth, it would 
be useful for this body in general, and for my Democratic colleagues in 
particular, to review the historical reality, and from time to time, to 
remind ourselves what it has meant, and what it still means today, to 
be the Party of the people.
  Let us start with 1955, Mr. Speaker--exactly 40 years ago. That was 
the 84th Congress, and even then Democrats were pursuing peace among 
nations, while building the physical, economic, and social 
infrastructure which this great nation requires to support the lives of 
its people.
  Most significant among all the actions taken during the 84th Congress 
was the increase in the minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 per hour. It 
is important to mark that point in history--that in the very beginning 
of this much maligned 40 year period, the Democratically-controlled 
Congress took action to improve the lot of the broadest possible base 
of our society. This was not an action which benefited only a few of 
the wealthiest individuals--like a capital gains tax. This was an 
action which benefited the entire Nation, because it lifted the boats 
stuck at the bottom and set a new and higher minimum standard of living 
for all Americans. Far from destroying the American way of life, Mr. 
Speaker, Democrats have defined the American way of life and brought it 
within reach of us all.
  To normalize relationships with potential international partners, 
working with the President, the 84th Congress ratified the Southeast 
Atlantic Treaty Organization, established peace with Austria, and 
liberated Germany from Allied occupation.
  To secure the nation, they established the national reserves.
  In order to stimulate economic development, they built four major 
dams which provided electricity to the upper Colorado River region.
  In order to stimulate economic development, they built four major 
dams which provided provided electricity to the upper Colorado River 
region.
  To stabilize the agriculture industry, they established the soil bank 
program which insulated farmers from fluctuations in farm
 prices.

  To connect this vast Nation from sea to shining sea, the Democratic 
84th Congress initiated a 41,000-mile interstate superhighway program, 
and established the user-fee-financed highway trust fund to help pay 
for it.
  To protect the quality of our environment for future generations, 
they passed and funded the Water Pollution Control Act of 1956.
  A simple assertion of the truth, Mr. Speaker. I cannot imagine a more 
auspicious marker for our proud Democratic legacy than that provided by 
the 84th Congress. A self-governing people cooperatively managing their 
society, meeting their immediate needs, and providing for their future 
through the processes of government.
  From this podium during the coming year, I will demonstrate by such 
simple statements of the unvarnished truth, that the American way is 
the way of the Democratic Party. Democrats have served this Nation 
well. We must claim and proclaim and embrace it as our mission to carry 
this great, but not yet perfect Nation forward as one Nation, under 
God, with liberty and justice for all.

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