[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 81 (Tuesday, May 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REPUBLICANS TO REGULAR FOLKS: DROP DEAD

  (Mr. GONZALEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans have delivered their 
budget message, and what it says to regular, hard-working Americans is, 
in the words of a great headline: ``drop dead.''
  The Republican message is that regular folks will get a lot less help 
to improve the schools that their kids attend; and when those kids get 
to college, there will be a whole lot less help to pay for it, and if 
they get student loans, they will pay much higher interest on those 
loans. For instance, they want to kill school improvement funds and 
totally eliminate library funding.
  They would kill funds that help our schools provide special services 
to poor kids. They also would kill funds that allow college students to 
work off some of their loans through worthwhile community service--
meaning that students and communities alike get hurt.
  The Republican message is that if your town needs help to provide 
affordable housing, forget it. And if your town uses block grants to 
provide essential services, your town will get a 25-percent cut. In 
fact, the rule seems to be, if it is help for any kind of public 
service or public improvement, there will be a cut of at least 25 
percent, and often a total wipeout.
  The Republican message is, if you are sick or old or poor, or have to 
ride the bus to work, you will get less service or help and pay much 
more for what you do get.
  The Republican message to regular folks is that no matter how hard 
you work, you will pay more and get less for every kind of public 
service, and you will get less help to educate yourself or your kids, 
and by the way, if you are hoping for some neighborhood improvements 
and your town needs help to finance the effort, forget that too.
  At the same time the Republicans are saying they will give a tax 
break to the rich.
  So if you are an ordinary, hard-working American citizen, the 
Republican message is that your life is about to get harder. The poor 
will be poorer, the ordinary will be harder pressed, and those who are 
struggling to help themselves will have to struggle harder.
  The Republicans do not come right out and say it, but their message 
could not be plainer: They want the well-off to get better off, and the 
rest of us can pay for it.


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