[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H12200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRESS NEEDS LEADERSHIP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] is 
recognized during morning business for 3 minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Madam Speaker, what this Government needs and what this 
Congress needs is leadership, leadership that will not play political 
games or brinksmanship. What we need in a time of crisis is vigorous 
leadership that understands the needs of the people are more important 
than their political game.
  What we need are rational people, moderate people who will find 
opportunity to compromise. Is it rational to expect that the Government 
will have a clean continuing resolution? I think it is. It is, because 
really the arguments that we are making on the continuing resolution 
are arguments we should make on the budget reconciliation. That work 
has not been done.
  Why stretch this argument for the American people? Already the 
American people have said things that are in the budget reconciliation 
should not be there.
  Why are we giving the American people this anguish, this turmoil, 
when we need not do it? Why do we not step up to the bar and say there 
is a right way to do this, there is a right way to govern?
  I challenge the Speaker to find that vigorous verbosity that he has 
in explaining all of the nuances of democracy, to find it by simple 
leadership, the leadership that says we will govern without respect to 
party, we will govern without respect to politics, we will govern 
without respect to who wins.
  Actually the American people would not care who wins, who blinks 
first, when this is all over. But they will blame us if indeed senior 
citizens have to pay a larger premium. They will blame us if students 
no longer have opportunities to go to school. They will blame you if 
opportunities for the environment retrogress, if we have that 
opportunity and fail to do that.
  These are the attributes of leadership and crisis, not to blame each 
other but to find how we have common good, common issues that bring us 
together, that is the leadership that we need in a time of crisis.

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