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




             GET DOWN TO THE SERIOUS BUSINESS OF GOVERNING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell] is 
recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, like other Americans, I am greatly enjoying 
the comments of my Republican colleagues. It is remarkable how now, 
about 45 days after October 1, when the new fiscal year is to commence, 
my Republican colleagues have only gotten one of the appropriation 
bills signed. They have not passed the reconciliation bill or the 
budget. They have not passed the debt ceiling legislation.
  They spend their time castigating and criticizing the President of 
the United States because of their own inability to carry out their 
comments about how they were going to run the country and balance the 
budget and do all the other things.
  Only 1 of 13 appropriation bills has been signed. The rest are 
somewhere strewn around here. There has been one veto, and the reason 
that was is it was the Congress' own appropriation bill which 
my Republican colleagues sent down there and President Clinton said, 
``No, we are not going to sign that right now. You are not going to get 
your problems solved before we address the rest of the problems of the 
country.''

  So my comments to my Republican colleagues are, ``Dear friends, you 
are in charge of this place. We have heard what you are going to do. Do 
it. Stop whining. Stop complaining. Get down to the business of 
governing, and if you cannot govern, admit it.''
  Now, what is in this budget about which my Republican colleagues talk 
so much? First of all, it savages the poor.
  Second of all, it punishes almost every class in our society which 
does not have the means and the capability of addressing their 
problems. It lifts away the helping hand from those who have greatest 
needs. From Women, Infants, and Children's programs right through 
Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans' benefits, there are savage and 
unneeded cuts. There are expenditures for unneeded weaponry which the 
Defense Department says are needed, aircraft, submarines, and ships 
which the Defense Department says are unneeded are expended for in most 
lavish fashions by my Republican colleagues' budget.
  Let us look at this budget. This budget cuts Women, Infants, and 
Children's programs, nutrition and other health care programs for 
mothers during the period that they are carrying children and during 
the time that they are lactating and nursing their children. It cuts 
the health care program for the newborn and for the unborn. It cuts 
student loans. It cuts school lunches. It cuts assistance to young 
people as they start out trying to go through college to borrow money 
to pay for their education. It eliminates veterans' benefits in a way 
that is absolutely unjust. It will cause the closure of 41 veterans 
hospitals.
  One million American veterans will not receive health care because of 
this Republican budget, and in addition to that 50,000, health care 
personnel from the VA will be laid off.
  It must be somewhat painful to my Republican colleagues to hear this, 
because they have not been changing the budget but they have been 
castigating the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs. It appears at least 
they are beginning to understand, and the people are beginning to 
understand.
  It cuts Medicare so that we can give a tax cut to the richest, and 
the people are beginning to be aware of this. My advice to my 
Republican colleagues is stop complaining, stop whining, get down to 
the serious business of governing, pass the legislation that you should 
have had on the President's desk by October 1, and then let us see what 
happens.

                              {time}  1315

  There have been complaints about the veto that the President just 
did. Well, there is good reason for that. The Republicans sought to 
intrude into how the President manages the fiscal affairs of the United 
States. So he vetoed that proposal.
  The time has to be recognized as being here, that it is time that my 
Republican colleagues quite complaining, pass the legislation that they 
should have passed by October 1, and do the business of the country.
  A lot of people say, well, the President will not talk. Well, the 
Republican leadership in this body early in the spring pointed out what 
they were going to do. They were going to jam this whole business down 
the President's throat by passing a piece of legislation which they 
said would compel him to swallow the Republican programs on the basis 
of either a take-it-or-leave-it or shut-the-government-down basis. That 
is why the situation is here.
  Now, why do we have this situation? Because when Mr. Reagan came in, 
we had a budget deficit of $700 billion. When Mr. Reagan and Mr. Bush 
left, we had a budget deficit of $4.9 trillion. They blew it up on the 
basis of irresponsible government during that period of time. Now they 
are trying to blame the Democrats.

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