[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CERTAIN POLITICAL METHODS DESTRUCTIVE TO CONGRESS

  (Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, recently it became publicly 
known about an e-mail directive from the leadership of the Republican 
Party that sheds light on the political methods being used as we work 
on our agricultural portion of reconciliation. It lays bare political 
methods which, frankly, are destructive to this institution, 
destructive far beyond simply the agricultural issues which it directly 
addresses. It is the leadership saying, ``You've got to pass our 
version of agricultural reconciliation, one that involves three times 
the cuts that are needed to reach a zero deficit, and if you don't, 
individual Members will lose committee memberships. The committee 
chairmanships will be lost. In fact, the entire House Committee on 
Agriculture could be abolished.''
  This is the sort of heavy-handed leadership that does not serve this 
institution well. We have difficult decisions to be made, but if we 
pull together in a bipartisan fashion, using the strengths of House 
Committee on Agriculture, I am confident that through the course of the 
debate this year we can in fact arrive at a point where we are helpful 
to family farms, helpful to the budget deficit, and it is done in a 
fair and open manner.

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