[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H16948-H16949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RIVERBOAT POLITICS SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Clinger). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 1995, the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller] 
is recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, today the 
President had to veto the debt limit and will veto the continuing 
resolution. This should not come as a surprise to those of us who 
follow the politics and the people involved in this issue, because back 
in April the Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, predicted that he 
would create a titanic legislative standoff with President Clinton by 
adding vetoed bills to must-pass legislation increasing the debt limit.
  In April, the Speaker made a decision that he would bring the 
government to a halt. But he was assuming that the President would have 
vetoed a whole series of bills that were to be passed by the Congress 
between April and now, and he would put those bills back on the debt 
limit or to a continuing resolution, and the President would have to 
sign those. He made it clear then that he was prepared to bring the 
Government down.
  But what has happened since that time is there has been a massive 
failure by the Republicans to pass those legislative measures. They 
have passed only 3 of the 13 appropriations bills. So when the 
Government shuts down tonight at midnight, it will not affect the 
Department of Agriculture, because the Department of Agriculture's 
appropriations bill has passed. But the Republicans have had a massive 
failure, unlike anything seen in modern Congresses, an inability to 
pass legislative appropriations billings for the coming fiscal year.
  So what have they decided to do? They decided to shift the light off 
of their ineptness and the fact that their party is now captured by the 
most extreme elements of the Republican Party, and they have decided to 
shift the light away from that, to suggesting that somehow the 
President wants to bring the Government to a standstill.
  The President has made it clear from the time that he passed the 
clean continuing resolution that we are operating under today back in 
September, that there was no need to bring the Government to a 
standstill. When the Republicans passed their bills, we could consider 
them then and he would either sign or veto them. When the Republicans 
pass their budget tonight, tomorrow or the end of this week they can be 
considered then. 

[[Page H 16949]]

  But what the Republicans have chosen to do is to try and put a gun to 
the President's head and say ``Sign this bill or the Government comes 
doen. Sign this bill, or the Government of the United States, for the 
first time in history, will default on its credit rate. Sign this bill, 
or millions of American homeowners will have higher interest rates 
because of that default.''
  That is no way to negotiate. The President of the United States has 
never given in to terrorists. He cannot give in to these kinds of 
terrorist activities by the Republicans when they are playing with the 
credit and well-being of the U.S. Government.
  A clean CR can be passed through the Congress of the United States in 
a matter of hours this evening, in the House and Senate. A debt limit 
can be extended if it is clean in a matter of hours, and the American 
public need not suffer. The American economy need not suffer that, and 
America's credit rating in the rest of the world need not suffer that.
  The Speaker made it clear again in September, he said ``I do not care 
what the price is. I do not care if we have no Executive offices and no 
bonds for 30 days. Not this time.'' These are the reckless words of a 
reckless man, playing with his own ego, playing with his own political 
fortunes, whether he be up or down in the polls, as opposed to taking 
care of the business of this Nation, taking care of the economy of this 
Nation, and taking care of the credit rating of this Nation.

  This kind of riverboat politics should not be tolerated. They should 
not be tolerated at a time when he sends a bill to the President 
suggesting that we are going to have to raise the premiums for Medicare 
recipients, but we will not address the other problems in Medicare 
costing money.
  They did not send to the President a bill to address waste, fraud, 
and abuse in Medicare. They did not send a bill to the President on the 
debt limit to address the exorbitant doctors' fees and hospital costs 
that cannot be justified. They did not address those needs. No, they 
only addressed what the senior citizens have to increase in premiums, 
and, of course we know why they are doing that, because they seek to 
transfer those $270 billion in Medicare savings. They seek to transfer 
$245 billion to among the richest people in this country, a tax cut 
that cannot be justified when they are seeking the kinds of cuts that 
are in the social fabric of this country, when middle income people are 
not doing as well as they were in 1973. Yet the massive effort that we 
see here now is all about getting a tax cut, half of which goes to the 
top 5 percent of the people in the country.
  It is unacceptable. A clean continuing resolution should be passed, a 
clean debt limit should be passed, and we should get on with the debate 
over the bills when the Republicans finally finish their debate within 
their party and pass those bills.

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