[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      A SCORCHED EARTH POLICY IN THE REPUBLICAN'S WAR ON CHILDREN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Olver] is 
recognized during morning business for 3 minutes.
  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, legend has it that Republicans know more 
about making profitable investments than Democrats, but with the 
Contract on America, that legend becomes a vicious myth.
  The Republicans want to slash funding for children's foster care, and 
children's adoption assistance, and child abuse prevention, and 
children's care while parents have to work, and preschool children's 
Head Start, and Drug Free Schools for Children, and children's health 
care, and children's school lunches, and prenatal nutrition, which has 
saved billions of dollars by reducing the number of low birthweight 
babies born in this country, as the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Durbin] spoke so eloquently about just a few minutes ago.
  These extremists are not even happy with hungry children. They want 
to cut every penny of home energy assistance, so thousands of children 
are going to go to bed cold as well as hungry.
  Mr. Speaker, Americans should understand exactly what is going on 
with this extremist agenda. This is not about thoughtful, even-handed 
deficit reduction. It goes much further than the elimination of 
bureaucracy or waste. This is a scorched earth policy in the Republican 
war on children.
  The radical right extremist agenda is to wash their hands of any 
responsibility for the welfare of the American family, shift that 
responsibility to the States, and at the same time, cut billions of 
dollars needed by the States to adequately protect children; protect 
their health, their safety, their schooling, and their stomachs.
  It is even a myth that these cuts reduce the deficit. Our radical 
right is willing to hurt children so they can buy fantasy projects like 
the star wars antiballistic missile system, and so they can shovel out 
massive tax breaks to the very wealthiest few Americans.
  Children cannot vote, so they are being trashed, and it is shameful. 
The health, the schooling, and the safety of children should be the 
first priority for every Member of Congress whose job it is to build a 
better nation. It is shameful to throw the responsibility to the States 
and then cut the dollars the States need to meet it.
  When they cannot meet it, we will all find out that turning our backs 
on children is a terrible way to invest in America's future.

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