[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1749-H1750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              PROGRESS REPORT ON THE CONTRACT WITH AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior], the minority whip, is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, on the way over to the floor from my office, 
I happened to gaze out one of the Capitol windows, and full view there 
was quite a magnificent sight. It was a full winter moon that was 
highlighting a bank of clouds. And I thought to myself how wonderful it 
must be to see the Capitol outside, to see this structure, with people 
like myself and others who are in it and to bathe in the glory of this 
institution and what it represents. It was a stunning view, and I was 
moved by it this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, we are beginning to see a crack with this Contract With 
America, or on America, however you want to phrase it. I know that my 
colleagues on this side of the aisle believe it is indeed the Contract 
With America. We believe, in fact, on our side of the aisle, there are 
some problems with what Republicans have proposed.
  We saw it tonight. We passed a bill tonight called the Local 
Government Law Enforcement Block Grants Act of 1995.
  Let me give you my perspective of what that is. We passed a major 
crime-fighting bill at the end of the last Congress, $30 billion. The 
centerpiece of it was to put police officers on the streets of our 
cities and our villages, our county roads all across America. 100,000 
police officers.
  Republicans came here today, and their goal was to roll that back, 
cut the funding level, put it in a block grant and ship it off to local 
units of government or the State Government, primarily, and let them 
decide what to do with it.
  [[Page H1750]] They could do anything they want with it. They could 
pave roads, buy helicopters, they could buy yachts, and they could buy 
tanks. And they have done that before, and that is why I mention it.
                              {time}  1900

  They could do anything with that money. We believe the best way to 
fight crime is to put police officers on the streets. The gentleman 
from Michigan [Mr. Stupak], who was a State police officer in Michigan 
for 12 years, spoke eloquently today about that issue on this floor. 
Now, while I was not a police officer, I was, in my time, before I came 
into this business, a probation officer. I worked with delinquent 
youth. I know a little bit about the subject.
  The best way to fight crime is to have people in the neighborhoods 
working to prevent crime. That does not just mean apprehending. That 
means activity seeking out solutions to the problems that are out 
there.
  The good news is, while they may have passed the bill tonight by a 
vote of 238 to 192, we have enough votes to sustain the President's 
veto of this bill. And the President stated very strongly this weekend 
that he will veto this bill because it does not move us toward 
providing those 100,000 police officers on our streets in this great 
country of ours.
  We surpassed the number we needed to sustain the veto by 46 votes 
tonight. So it is a victory for America.
  But more importantly than that, what this vote said tonight, and I 
might add, we had Republican support on this vote tonight, they are 
breaking. The contract is starting to crumble.
  I believe, first of all, that the contract is not going to affect the 
average man and woman in this country. It is not going to do anything 
about their incomes. It is not going to do anything about the spiritual 
vacuum that they feel in their lives, or they do not see each other, or 
they work different shifts, or they do not communicate with their 
children because of the necessities of the economic challenge they have 
before them to keep up with their neighbors or to make a decent living 
to sustain their families.
  None of that is addressed in their contract. They have got 10 points, 
none of it is addressed. And so when we offer amendments, for instance, 
on the balanced budget amendment, that say tell us what you are going 
to do about the family problem, tell us what you are going to do about 
Social Security, the Republicans punt. They do not answer. They have no 
answer.
  We passed the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, but it 
is in the Senate right now. And because they will not answer the 
question of where they will cut, will it be education, will it be 
health, they are not getting the support that they need.
  So in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Chair's indulgence, 
let me say that the contract is beginning to crumble. We dealt it, I 
think, an important blow this evening with respect to this vote.
  I will encourage my colleagues to stay firm, to stay strong as we 
proceed through this first 100 days.


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