[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S16949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I was not planning to respond to my good 
friend from New Hampshire, and I agree with him 100 percent; it is not 
the time for name calling and politicization of this issue any longer. 
But I do feel it is time to set the record straight, and I would like 
to take just a moment of the Senate's time to sort of begin to set the 
record straight as to what is happening right now with regard to this 
issue of so-called shutting down the Government.
  This is not something that just happened in the last 24 or 36 or 48 
hours. This has been going on for several months now. In fact, back on 
September 22, Speaker Gingrich boasted:

       I don't care what the price is. I don't care if we have no 
     executive offices. I don't care if we have no bonds for 60 
     days, not this time.

  That is a quote in the Washington Post September 22, 1995.
  Look at what the Republicans have done. This is a fact. They have 
completely shut the Democrats out of the budget process. We know it. 
They know it. It is a fact of life. We have not been a part of this 
process. We have wanted to be a part of this process, but we have not 
been included. For example, after proposing the most massive cut in 
Medicare in the history of America, our Republican friends held only 1 
day of hearings on this proposal--1 day. It is the biggest cut in 
Medicare we have had since 1965.
  By comparison, the House held 42 days of hearings on Whitewater, 
Waco, and Ruby Ridge. The Senate held 48 days of hearings on these same 
issues. One day of hearings, 1 day of hearings on this massive Medicare 
cut.
  Mr. President, I do think it is time to set the record straight. I 
also think it is time to realize that the President is not willing to 
impose an $11 a month premium increase on every single Medicare 
beneficiary as a condition for keeping the Government running.
  Look who is being held hostage here. Every Medicare recipient in 
America is being held hostage, and the price is closing down the 
Government. And we are going to blame it on the President of the United 
States.
  What is happening is we are only implementing what we call the 
Gingrich strategy. This is the implementation of a strategy that was 
conceived long ago but today is manufactured. It is an artificial 
crisis that has been created. It is a confrontation that has been 
dreamed up by people who do not care if this Government functions or 
not. It is a shameful experience. It is an experience about which I 
think most good-willed people in this body actually shudder when 
thinking about the Founding Fathers of this country--bringing us to 
this point of closing down the Government in order to make political 
hay.
  Mr. President, you know and all of us know that this artificial 
crisis basically revolves around one provision, the Medicare provision 
in the reconciliation bill, and the continuing resolution. But the 
truth is that the Medicare provision in this particular continuing 
resolution is also included in the reconciliation bill.
  Why is it we have not straightened that out so far? It is pretty 
apparent. We have not even appointed the conferees to go to conference 
on the reconciliation bill, and yet we are about to close down the 
Government. We do not even have the conferees appointed. There is no 
one to go to conference with and to solve this issue. That has to be a 
problem, and it has to be a responsibility of the majority party in the 
Senate and in the House. The Chair knows this. I know this. My 
colleagues know this.
  I think it is time to set the record straight. Earlier this morning, 
the Democratic party, Democratic side of the aisle had agreed; we 
thought we were getting ready, with unanimous consent, by voice vote to 
go ahead and pass the continuing resolution, let it go down to the 
President, not hold up this thing any longer, not continue the threat 
of closing down the Government, and then let the President veto it. Let 
him do it early in the day.
  We wanted that to happen. I hope that can still happen. Right now I 
do not know exactly what is going on, but I do know this, that this 
President at this moment is ready, willing, and able to talk to the 
other side of the aisle, I assume at the White House or anywhere else, 
and talk to them about the measures necessary to keep this Government 
functioning as it was intended to function and to stop implementing 
this grand Gingrich strategy, this contrived artificial crisis which 
does not have to happen.
  Mr. President, I understand my good friend and colleague from North 
Dakota would like 4 minutes, and I yield my friend 4 minutes at this 
time.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Arkansas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota has 4 minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Let me take just a minute to follow on these comments.
  We are here in the middle of a significant debate about the 
reconciliation bill and about the continuing resolution, the debt 
extension, and the public might wonder why. Why are we doing all of 
this?
  A continuing resolution is necessary because virtually none of the 
appropriations bills have been passed on time. I think one of them 
reached the President on time. Most of them have not been passed 
through conference and sent to the President. They are supposed to be 
done, but they are not done.
  Even more important, the law requires that the reconciliation bill be 
passed by Congress on June 15. It is now November 13. The fact is we 
are now going to in November and December debate a reconciliation bill 
for which there have not been conferees appointed 5 months after the 
law requires this Congress to do its job.
  It seems to me it is hard for people who are doing this to claim they 
are part of some reform party. So I guess the point I would make about 
this issue of the shutdown is people are wanting to know who is going 
to share the blame or claim the credit. There is going to be no credit 
here, no credit in a shutdown.
  Yes. I would say it is true there are too many pollsters in the White 
House. But it is also true, painfully true, there are too many 
Republican Senators running for President. That colors all of these 
decisions. And it is also true that Speaker Gingrich has boasted for 
months about the train wreck he is apparently going to engineer and 
apparently we will realize this week.
  There will be nothing but blame if this happens. It is not a 
thoughtful approach and not the right way for us to do public policy. 
For 200 years representative democracy has rested on the ability to 
compromise among differing points of view, and that is what ought to 
happen today and tomorrow. And we ought to solve these problems.

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