[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S17011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, at midnight last night, President Clinton 
threw in the towel, so to speak, and bailed out on his constitutional 
responsibility to keep the Federal Government in operation.
  By vetoing legislation to extend the Federal Government's borrowing 
ability, and by vetoing a continuing resolution that would have kept 
the Federal Government funded, President Clinton set the engine on full 
throttle and barreled the U.S. Government into the train wreck we have 
been hearing so much about over the last several months.
  And it is all because he is unwilling to follow through on a promise 
to balance the budget. Despite calls from the American taxpayers for a 
little leadership from the Nation's Chief Executive.
  Did you know that every day, the Washington Times prints a little 
chart illustrating exactly how much this Government owes its creditors?
  This morning's paper, for example, shows the U.S. Government 
approximately $4.984 trillion in debt.
  In just one 2-day period recently, the national debt increased more 
than $2.2 billion--enough, estimated the Times, to buy a Big Mac, 
medium french fries, and medium-sized drink for every person in the 
entire United States and Mexico.
  Just the interest alone on a debt that massive is accumulating at the 
rate of $4 million an hour.
  If our national debt were shared equally among all Americans, each of 
us would owe more than $19,000.
  Every child born today in the United States of America--and that is 
going to be about 8,200 children--comes into this world already saddled 
with more than $19,000 in debt.
  That is immoral, Mr. President.
  So the difference between Congress and the President--the difference 
in what we apparently see when we look at those staggering statistics--
is the difference between passion and politics.
  Congress is passionate about fulfilling our promise to balance the 
budget and end the legacy of debt we continue to build for the coming 
generations. We cannot imagine what it took to build up a national debt 
of nearly $5 trillion--that is a 5 followed by 12 zeroes--and we cannot 
imagine letting it go on for another day.

  That is passion.
  The President's guiding force, meanwhile, is politics. For him to 
shut down the Government is nothing more than a political move--an 
attempt to derail all our hard work at balancing the Federal budget 
merely to satisfy the radical liberal wing of his own party.
  Congress wants to move forward, while President Clinton wants to stop 
the people's agenda dead in its tracks.
  Harry Truman used to have a sign on his desk that read: ``The Buck 
Stops Here.''
  Well, President Clinton ought to have a sign on his that says ``The 
Revolution Stops Here.'' For him, leadership is not about fulfilling 
promises or making change, or principled decisionmaking. It is all 
about politics.
  Mr. President, I came to the floor last Tuesday to speak about the 
budget and the President's unwillingness to work with us, in good 
faith, toward the goals shared by a majority of all Americans.
  Immediately afterward, one of my good colleagues from across the 
aisle responded with his own thoughts about the budget debate, and he 
chided me for making the Senate what he called ``a political arena.''
  All I can say is that it is nearly impossible to talk about this 
President without somehow mentioning politics.
  His public comments of the past week have been nothing but political 
rhetoric, and desperate rhetoric, at that. In his Saturday radio 
address, he asked listeners to:

       Imagine the Republican Congress as a banker, and the United 
     States as family that has to go to the bank for a short-term 
     loan, for a family emergency. The banker says to the family, 
     ``I will give you the loan, but only if you will throw the 
     grandparents and the kids out of the house first.''

  Mr. President, my constituents in Minnesota and the rest of the 
American people asked for fundamental changes last November from their 
Government, not empty rhetoric. But President Clinton has made the 
decision not to climb aboard.
  Of course, that is his choice, and none of us is apparently going to 
change his mind.
  But hear this--Congress will not bow out of its responsibility to 
deliver to the people a budget that balances within 7 years, that draws 
the line at tax increases, and in fact cuts taxes for working-class 
Americans, that preserves and protects Medicare.
  The question of why the President of the United States of America is 
so vehemently opposed to a balanced budget that does not increase taxes 
that he would shut down the Federal Government and default on the 
Nation's financial obligations, can only be answered by the President 
himself.
  And the American people are waiting for an answer.

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