[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 181 (Wednesday, November 15, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17088-S17089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECONCILIATION AND THE BUDGET

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, when you took to the floor, you talked 
about your obligation to your children. I relate to that very much 
because I raised two of them, and now I am a grandmother. That is what 
this debate is all about. You are exactly right. It is about our 
children, and it is about what life in America is going to be like for 
them.
  I grew up in the years when I was able to get the American dream. I 
came from a very middle-class family. Actually, my mother never 
graduated from high school, and I am in the Senate because I got a free 
education, because I played by the rules of the game, because I had a 
community that was safe to grow up in and a caring community it was. I 
grew up in an inner city. 

[[Page S17089]]

  So that is what this debate is all about. It is about the Presiding 
Officer's children and my grandchild and generations to come.
  I find it very interesting; on the one hand we hear a new cry: All we 
want is a little bit different than the President. All we are talking 
about is incremental change. That is what the Senator from Tennessee 
said.
  Well, gee, I have listened to the Republicans. They are talking about 
a revolution--a revolution--not incremental change. And it is a 
revolution to allow Medicare to ``wither on the vine,'' to quote Newt 
Gingrich. He says he was talking about HCFA. He was talking about 
Medicare. Even all the analysts agree--wither on the vine. The majority 
leader bragging to a group that he led the charge against Medicare.
  So let us not take to the floor and say one thing one day: It is a 
revolution, and another thing another day: No, no, it is just that we 
want to balance the budget.
  Today the majority leader made a very eloquent speech in which he 
praised Republicans for their courage. He said the polls are not going 
our way, but we are courageous. And I think that the majority leader 
clearly sees it that way. But I have to ask a question: What is 
courageous about shutting down the Government? What is courageous about 
cutting Medicare by $270 billion and giving the money to the wealthiest 
among us? What is courageous about gutting education and environmental 
funds and, frankly, repealing nursing home standards? What is 
courageous about loading down the temporary debt extension and the 
continuing appropriations bills with extraneous matters such as 
regulatory reform, habeas corpus reform, and my all-time favorite, a 
debt limit extension for a few weeks that says to the President, ``Your 
hands are tied on the debt crisis. You cannot do anything but 
default.''
  That is really swell. When I was a stockbroker on Wall Street, I 
watched the market shift, and so far they do not believe anything is 
going to happen, but I can tell you we are playing with fire here. For 
the greatest nation in the world, the dollar is under stress right now. 
The markets are wondering. S&P is looking at us for bond ratings. The 
international bond raters are saying we are on the watch list.
  Swell. Real courageous. I say it is outrageous, and it is a 
dereliction of our duty. What is courageous about not doing our job? 
What is courageous about thousands and thousands of American workers 
being sent home, workers who have to care for their families. They, 
too, I say to the Presiding Officer, have beautiful little children 
just like you, and you do, and you adore them, and these workers adore 
their families. They do not know if they are going to get paid. As a 
matter of fact, they will not get paid until this mess is over, even if 
they are essential. And if they are nonessential, who knows.

  That is a dereliction of duty that is not courageous. So I hope we 
get off of the self-congratulatory binge around here, whether 
Republicans or Democrats, because a pox on everyone for this mess we 
are in. There is nothing courageous about this continuing shutdown, 
about Congress not passing its appropriations bills. Let us not try to 
blackmail the President with a budget that destroys Medicare and 
rewards the wealthy. The fight should take place over the budget bill, 
not over these short-term extensions and trying to force the President 
into signing something that makes it impossible for him to negotiate. I 
do not know how else to say it except, ladies and gentlemen, we do have 
a Democrat in the White House, the Republicans control the Congress, 
and we better work together and not tie each other's hands. Come to the 
table clean.
  I ask a question: Why should we get our pay when thousands of other 
Federal employees are not getting theirs? Why should we get our pay? It 
is not fair. We passed here in this Senate the Boxer-Durbin bill that 
essentially says if there is a shutdown, Members of Congress and the 
President will not get our pay and we will not get it back 
retroactively. And some of us have begun doing something about it. But 
this is about institutional failure.
  I was here when we all voted for congressional accountability, and we 
said we are not above the law; we are going to be treated like 
everybody else. And yet we are the only Federal employees who are 
guaranteed their pay even though there is no appropriations bills 
signed into law for this function.
  I do praise the leadership of the Senate; in a bipartisan way, 
Senators Daschle and Dole, they came together. They supported this. But 
over there on the House side Speaker Gingrich is blocking a vote as we 
speak. I hope people will call Speaker Gingrich.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mrs. BOXER. I hope they will tell him to support the Boxer-Durbin no 
budget-no pay bill. It is not courageous for us to take our pay and cut 
off everybody else's.

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  The Senator from Indiana.

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