[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 182 (Thursday, November 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPLANATION OF PRESIDENT'S DECISION TO FURLOUGH NONESSENTIAL FEDERAL 
                               EMPLOYEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maine [Mr. Longley] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LONGLEY. Mr. Speaker, today is day 3 of the President's decision 
to furlough nonessential Federal employees, and I know that there has 
got to be a great deal of concern across the country as to exactly what 
is happening, and I think that we, as Members of Congress, owe it to 
the public to explain to them in our view what precisely is happening, 
and I would like to explain the furlough in these terms.
  Yesterday was a defining day. It was a defining day in the debate 
about the role of the Federal Government and the interests of the 
respective parties in dealing with the problems of Government spending. 
It was a defining day for the President because he came out and made it 
clear once and for all that he is opposed to balancing the Federal 
budget, despite the fact that in his campaign in 1993 he claimed that 
he could balance, and would balance, the Federal budget in 5 years, 
despite the fact that in various times he has come out for either a 7-
year balanced budget, a 10-year balanced budget, an 8-year balanced 
budget, or a 9-year balanced budget, or the fact that in January of 
this year he submitted to this Congress a budget that will never 
balance, that shows $200 billion a year in deficits as far as the eye 
can see.
  The President, Mr. Speaker, made himself clear last night. He 
indicated that he is opposed to balancing the budget in 7 years.

                              {time}  2350

  It was also a defining day for the Congress. Last night we voted a 
continuing resolution wherein 277 Members of this body went on record 
in support of a clean continuing resolution, and when I say clean, I 
mean a resolution that had as its only condition that the President 
agree to work with the Congress to balance the Federal budget over the 
next 7 years, no other condition; no conditions about Medicare, no 
conditions about tax cuts, no conditions about spending adjustments, 
nothing, other than one simple agreement and understanding, that we 
will work together to balance this country's budget over the next 7 
years.
  Needless to say, that passed by 277 votes, nearly a veto-proof 
majority. But I also need to chide this House, and bring to its 
attention the fact that in January of this year we had 300 Members who 
went in support of a balanced budget amendment that would have required 
and would require that we balance the Federal budget over 7 years. Of 
the 300 votes in support of that, we received the votes of 72 
Democrats.
  I should note that since January, four of those Democrats have 
crossed the aisle to join the Republican party, precisely because of 
their commitment and support for the objective of balancing the Federal 
budget. Nevertheless, of those 68 remaining Democrats who voted for the 
balanced budget amendment, only 48 last evening voted to actually 
balance the budget in 7 years, per the terms of the continuing 
resolution.
  Despite all the sweet talk and promises and posturing that the public 
has witnessed, the fact remains that we must get on a track to 
balancing the Federal budget, that we need a commitment from the 
Members of this Congress, a commitment to meet their word and to 
fulfill the promises that they made in their campaigns. We must get 
this country on the track to a balanced Federal budget.
  This is about whether the Federal Government is going to, once and 
for all, recognize that there is a limit to what it can spend, a limit 
to what it can tax, and a limit to what it can regulate. Again, I hope 
that the President sees the light and is willing to fulfill the 
commitment that he made in his campaign.

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