[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 31, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       UNFUNDED FEDERAL MANDATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  (Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, in November the American people 
clearly demonstrated their disgust with outlandish spending, 
skyrocketing taxes, and a lack of responsiveness from Congress.
  The new Republican majority is working hard to eliminate many of the 
business-as-usual policies and practices of the past, including the 
onerous burden of unfunded mandates. The burden of unfunded Federal 
mandates has become an albatross for many State and local governments 
and impacts nearly every community at some level.
  As a former Montgomery County commissioner in Pennsylvania and a 
former member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, I 
have seen firsthand the devastating financial effects such unfunded 
programs have had on municipal, county, and State budgets.
  If the Congress really believes in a program, then the Congress 
should pay for that program. We can no longer pass the buck on to 
others. The practice has to end here and now.
  Honest reform and accountable government are not only what the public 
wants to see, they are the right things to do. The American people are 
sick of legislation which uses smoke and mirrors and accomplishes 
nothing. We need effective reform, which clearly marks the 104th 
Congress as different from the rest. Ending unfunded Federal mandates 
should be at the top of this list.

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