[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 182 (Thursday, November 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ELIMINATE THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

  (Mr. CHRYSLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHRYSLER. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of talk about 
essential and nonessential Federal employees. Many of my constituents 
are asking why the Federal Government hires employees who are not 
essential in the first place. I did not.
  The Department of Commerce recently sent two-thirds of its employees 
home because they were deemed nonessential. My bill to dismantle the 
Commerce Department only eliminated one-third. I guess I did not go far 
enough, but that is because I am conservative and not extreme.
  A recent survey by the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce in my home 
State of Michigan indicated 89 percent of the business leaders there 
support the dismantling of the department. Business Week magazine 
agreed by a 2-to-1 margin. When the Clinton administration, former 
Commerce Secretaries, Michigan business leaders, and the Nation's 
senior business executives all agree that most of the Department of 
Commerce is nonessential, then it is time to put the Department of 
Commerce out of business.

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