[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 182 (Thursday, November 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             A GRAVE ERROR

  (Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Acting Speaker, I have not myself 
been a great defender of the real Speaker. Indeed, I thought the 
American people were right when they found him to be the most unpopular 
elected official in America.
  But yesterday I was ready to jump to his defense. I do not think 
people should be disrespectful of the Speaker. When I heard people 
suggest that Speaker Gingrich had said that he was going to be tougher 
in negotiations and do more to shut down the Government because the 
President had been rude to him, I was ready to leap to his defense.
  I said, how can you accuse Speaker Gingrich, as much as I disagree 
with him on policy, of being so petty, of being so personal as to say 
that because the President did not distract himself from the Middle 
East peace process to come and talk to him and take his mind off having 
to sit with some other Republicans, how could you claim that this man 
would then use that as a reason to help shut down the Government?
  Of course we have this problem because the Republicans have not 
passed the appropriations bills. It is their own lack of ability that 
has led the Health and Human Services Department and the Labor 
Department not to be there. To compound that with insensitivity is a 
very grave error.

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