[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 184 (Saturday, November 18, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S17426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE BUDGET CRISIS

  Mr. EXON. Mr. President, we are having a rather unusual Saturday 
session today for the very obvious and specific reason that, indeed, 
the Government of the United States and the United States is in a 
crisis situation today because of the failure of the legislative and 
executive branches--regardless of their political affiliations and 
political attitudes--meaning simply that we have to come to some kind 
of an agreement, some kind of an understanding, some kind of a lowering 
of the testing of wills with regard to a compromise that can be reached 
at this time to at least establish the basis or the framework to get on 
with the more important and more difficult task down the road, and 
coming to an agreement to balance the budget as quickly as we can. But 
I think we should keep this all in perspective.
  I would simply say, Mr. President, that heated rhetoric, charges, and 
countercharges of what this Senator will do or what that Senator will 
do, the pretense of standing up for what is right above everything 
else, of what I think is right regardless of what my colleagues on this 
side of the aisle and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
think might be a workable solution, a solution to the crisis that faces 
the United States today and toning down our rhetoric, toning down our 
demands, toning down our individual wills, is the only mixture that is 
going to provide a measure of success in the future that none of us 
individually might be totally satisfied with, but one that gets this 
Government moving and allows democracy to function as it has 
successfully functioned for many, many years.

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