[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H16946-H16947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             {time}   1300
                    NOT A GOOD TIME FOR OUR COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Clinger). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 1995, the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. 
Schroeder] is recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, well, this is, indeed, I think, a very 
sad day.
  Let us put the facts down since we all speak one language. It is now 
more than 45 days after the fiscal year ran out, 45 days, and 89 
percent of the budget that we were supposed to have done 45 days ago 
still has not been done. So here we are.
  We cannot get an extension of an emergency measure to keep that 89 
percent of the Government going while we work those details out. Most 
of the fights on this 89 percent are not between Republicans and 
Democrats. It is between Members of this body and Members of the other 
body on the other side of the aisle. So they are having this intraparty 
fight, and everybody else is paying a price.
  You are going to have people say, oh, there have been these things 
before. There has never been one after 45 days with 89 percent of the 
budget still hanging out there, and the real issue here is trying to 
jam the President, trying to say, well, we will keep this going even 
though the President is in the fight. He does not belong to either this 
body or the other body, the Senate. No; no. He is in the executive 
branch. They are saying, ``Oh, you 

[[Page H 16947]]
know, we are going to make the President sign on this increase in 
Medicare premiums.'' Well, why would they do that? Because it is the 
only way they can jam it to him, ``Either shut down the Government or 
sign on to our stupid idea to raise Medicare premiums.''
  Why would they want the President to sign up? Because they see 
themselves sinking in the polls. People are finally listening to that 
wonderful language they are paying all that money for to lure people 
into thinking they can do all the slashing and cutting without hurting 
anybody and not realizing they are going to get hurt. They are sinking 
in the polls. They want to find some way to force the President to sign 
on to their program, and it is either, ``Sign on to the program, or we 
shut this Government down.''
  This is not a proud time for this country. This is tragic. This makes 
me terribly angry. But, of course, Members of Congress will get paid. 
That is outrageous, too.
  I cannot believe that the leadership of this House has not stopped 
that nonsense and done it fast.
  The other thing that was fully disclosed again in today's paper was 
about the party last night that was held by the other side of the aisle 
as we are getting ready to shut down the Congress. This was a party for 
GOPAC, GOPAC, the Speaker's PAC that raised so much money and is under 
such a cloud, and there are investigations going on, everything else. 
Nevertheless they came to town and had another big party, and they had 
the big kahuna of GOPAC come speak, none other than Rush Limbaugh 
himself, who stood there and said to all of these people who paid all 
of this money to keep GOPAC rich, he was hailing the GOP budget. He 
said, according to the paper and according to the C-SPAN tape, he 
thought it was wonderful because it would starve the poor and it would 
drive Medicare recipients, including his mother, to eat dog food, but, 
``Not to worry, mom,'' he says, ``I am sending you a new can opener.'' 
Wow.
  That tells you what today is about. That tells you what today is 
about. It is what is the concept of community we have for this country. 
Do we see this country only as a community where people come to make a 
lot of money, and if they make a lot of money, we ought to do 
everything we can to make sure they keep getting more and more money, 
the people who can pay to go to these fancy fundraisers? Do we see this 
as a community where, yes, you try to keep the strong business climate 
and all of that, but you also care for each other as family, and you do 
not make jokes about if mom will go on dog food, so what, I do not have 
to pay as much in taxes, and I will get her a new can opener. That is 
not my America, and I do not think that is funny, and I do not think it 
is funny that we are the laughingstock of the world today as we see 
people trying to shove this budget thing on the President, who has not 
even been in this.
  This is not about whether we have a balanced budget in 7 years. We 
all agree we have to. It is who we cut to get there. And we happen to 
think you might be able to cut peanut subsidies or sugar subsidies or 
not give such a fat pay or tax increase to the rich, the people who 
bought all those tickets to the fundraiser. We do not think the defense 
contractors needed another $8 billion beyond what the Defense Committee 
wanted.
  We are not going to do that to my mom. I am not going to do that to 
my mom. The President is not going to do that to my mom.
  Mr. President, veto that. Stand tall.

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