[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 138 (Thursday, September 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  BIPARTISAN BUDGET SUMMIT NEEDED NOW

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it is time for a bipartisan summit on the 
budget.
  As I said back in June during the debate on the 1996 budget 
resolution, I fear that the Republican congressional leadership and the 
President are on a collision course over the budget.
  An immediate bipartisan budget summit is needed to forge a solution 
to next year's appropriations bills, or we will have a disaster on our 
hands that will force the entire Government to an abrupt halt this 
fall.
  The start of the 1996 fiscal year is less than a month away, yet we 
are far from completing the 13 annual appropriations bills needed to 
fund the Government. In fact, we are very close to a fiscal disaster.
  The House, Senate, and the President are still miles apart on these 
bills without much effort being made to find common ground within the 
next 30 days. And the administration is now preparing contingency plans 
for agencies to continue essential operations in case we fail to agree 
before the first of October.
  I see little hope for an agreement if we keep to our current course.
  Of the 11 appropriations bills passed so far in the House, President 
Clinton has threatened to veto 6. The Senate has passed seven 
appropriations bills, with huge differences from their House 
counterparts. Indeed, the Senate and House have reached agreement on 
only one appropriations bill.
  The political rhetoric is heating up as the fiscal disagreement 
continues.
  Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has declared that: ``The budget 
fight for me is the equivalent of Gettysburg in the Civil War.''
  President Clinton has also refused to back down, saying: ``I will not 
be blackmailed into selling the American people's future down the drain 
to avoid a train wreck. Better a train wreck.''
  This push for a train wreck is stupid on both sides. We don't need to 
shut down the Government to prove we are Democrats or Republicans. We 
all know that an all Republican budget will not become law or an all 
Democratic budget will not become law.
  This political posturing is just what Vermonters tell me that they 
dislike about Washington.
  Shutting down the Government in an attempt to score political points 
will only bring more scorn of our political system. It is time to put 
our political differences aside and come together in a bipartisan 
budget summit--before the crisis.
  Our political system will not be the only loser if political 
gamesmanship causes a Government shutdown--a shutdown will also be a 
loser for U.S. taxpayers. Government shutdowns waste taxpayer money.
  In 1981, for example, the Government spent $5.5 million to close 
offices and send workers home. In 1990, a President and Congress of 
different parties failed to reach a bipartisan agreement on the budget. 
And the General Accounting Office calculated that the resulting 3-day 
Government shutdown cost taxpayers between $244 and $607 million.
  Government shutdowns also hurt the citizens in our society who depend 
on our Government the most. In 1979, an 11-day Government shutdown led 
to delays in Federal payments for housing subsidies, delays in GI bill 
education checks, and delays in aid to the disabled.
  A longer shutdown could hurt senior citizens who rely on their Social 
Security income, students who rely on Federal loans, farmers who rely 
on Federal support programs, travelers who rely on our air traffic 
control system, and consumers who rely on meat inspections.
  We need a bipartisan budget summit to avoid such a costly Government 
shutdown. For a summit to succeed, everything must be on the table: 
taxes, health care reform, entitlement reform, further spending 
reductions, and the time it will take to get to a balanced budget.
  Such a summit will be a grueling, sometimes acrimonious, encounter. 
But anyone who has studied the various blueprints can see the outlines 
of an agreement.
  Both Republicans and Democrats agree that we must consolidate 
unnecessary Government programs, reform welfare, and control Medicare 
and Medicaid spending. We may now disagree on some of the details for 
accomplishing these goals, but that is why we need a bipartisan 
summit--to hammer out the details of a compromise.


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