[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page H9231]]


 AMERICANS ARE NOT BUYING THE ``CHICKEN LITTLE'' STORY OF THE DEMOCRATS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weldon] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I have been here 9 years, my 
third term, and I take great pride in working in a bipartisanship 
manner on a number of issues. On the Committee on National Security on 
defense; on environmental issues, through the GLOBE organization; on 
energy issues; labor issues; and issues affecting working people as 
well as natural and man-made disasters, reaching out to both sides of 
the aisle to reach common consensus.
  Mr. Speaker, after listening to what I heard for this past hour, and 
what I heard last night, I have to change the tone of my speech 
tonight. I would hope perhaps that some of my colleagues who are 
rushing out the doors will stick around for 5 minutes to hear what I 
have to say.
  We have heard the story about Chicken Little, that the sky is 
falling. We heard that from the Democrats when they said, under Ronald 
Reagan, that Republicans were going to end the Social Security system. 
We heard that from the Democrats and from the President when we 
announced our child nutrition program, and they were proven wrong 
again. And then we heard the same argument from the Democrats on the 
student aid debate, and then we found that there are, in fact, no cuts 
being proposed for student aid.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, we are hearing the same tired, worn out arguments 
on Medicare. Mr. Speaker, even senior Democrats nationally understand 
what is going on here. Let me quote, for instance, Democratic Mayor of 
Chicago, Bill Daley. He recently told The New York Times, and I quote 
Democrat Mayor Daley, ``The only message we have got is the same one we 
had in November: The Republicans are going to cut Social Security and 
Medicare. People look at it and say, Forget it. We do not buy that. The 
sky is not falling.''
  Mr. Speaker, this is Democrat Mayor Bill Daley of Chicago saying that 
this is nothing more than the same old tired message attempting to 
scare people. The same thing we heard against seniors 4 years ago, 
against students and kids earlier this year. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the 
people of America are listening to what we are doing and they are 
responding in overwhelming numbers.

  Let me give you some facts and statistics, and I will be happy to 
provide them to any of our colleagues who would like to come forth and 
ask for them. Since the Democratic convention in New York City 3 years 
ago, the Democrat party has lost a total of 685 Senators, House 
Members, Governors, State Senators and Representatives. That is 685 in 
just 3 years.
  As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, last Friday, September 15, in Vice 
President Gore's home State of Tennessee, 2 Democrat Senators switched 
parties. Senator Milton Hamilton, Jr., and Rusty Crowe. When they 
switched to the Republican Party, they turned the Tennessee State 
Senate Republican for the first time since Reconstruction.
  Now, is this an exception? Mr. Speaker, since Bill Clinton took 
office, 132 publicly elected officials have switched parties. Zero have 
switched from Republican to Democrat, and yet 132 have switched from 
the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. None have switched the 
other way.
  In fact, 37 Members of Congress who were Democrats since Bill Clinton 
took office have either resigned or announced their retirements to 
date, and more will follow.
  Another five, 2 U.S. Senators and 3 House Representatives, have 
switched to the Republican Party. An average of almost 1 Democrat U.S. 
Senator per month since Bill Clinton took office has either retired, 
resigned, or switched parties.
  Mr. Speaker the American people are listening and when we get beyond 
the Beltway, the breeze that is blowing across America is unbelievable. 
The American people are seeing beyond the type of demagoguery and 
rhetoric that we heard tonight and last night on the House Floor.
  In fact, in Georgia just 2 weeks ago, the first female district 
attorney switched parties. Lone rising star in Georgia, Cheryl Fisher 
Custer, switched to the Republican party. She said, ``There is a 
growing sentiment in this country that there must be a fundamental 
change in government. I believe that the Republican party offers the 
best opportunity to effect that change and bring about responsible, 
common sense government.''
  Custer was the seventh Georgia Democrat elected official to switch to 
the Republican Party this year alone.
  Let us go beyond. It is not just the South, Mr. Speaker. Let us go up 
to Maine and look what happened in Maine back in August. Maine 
Representative Edgar Wheeler switched parties. He became the 113th 
Democrat to switch since Bill Clinton took office.
  Mr. Speaker, this is what he said: ``For several years, I have felt 
out of tune with the Democratic Party, and during my first year as a 
legislator I recognized how far apart I really am from the party.''
  Mr. Speaker, all across America, beyond the Beltway, the people are 
speaking loud and clear. They are rejecting the Chicken Little story of 
the Democrats and they are understanding what we are doing and that is 
bringing some common sense back to this hallowed.

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