[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H976-H977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE 10TH AMENDMENT SHUFFLE

  (Mr. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, over the last 40 years, the Congress 
has perfected a new dance--the 10th amendment shuffle.
  The music for this dance starts playing when the Congress runs out of 
Federal tax dollars to spend, but still has several key projects on 
their wish list.
  Rather than sitting out a dance, Congress has instead sidestepped the 
10th amendment and forces States and localities to pay for its projects 
and dance to its tune.
  [[Page H977]] A classic shuffle is the motor-voter bill, an unfunded 
mandate estimated to cost States some $58 million.
  Mr. Speaker, it will cost my State, Nebraska, over $700,000 to 
recruit more people to get registered on the voting files in a State 
which already has one of the highest voter registration rates in the 
Nation. It is time to pull Congress' dance cards and put an end to 
Federal unfunded mandates. H.R. 5 will do this. I urge my colleagues to 
support this and make sure we no longer have to live under the unfunded 
mandates that the Congress continues to send.

                          ____________________