[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 194 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H14180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROTECTION ACT

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the last shutdown, I began 
this countdown on the floor to help Members understand the special 
outrage of closing down the Capital City.
  Mr. Speaker, this is day 9 of the countdown to December 15. Mr. 
Speaker, 85 percent of the money in the D.C. appropriation is money 
raised from D.C. taxpayers. How would Members feel if the Congress used 
their own local money to shut down their district over a national 
dispute in which they were uninvolved?
  The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Davis] says that the Federal 
shutdown was dumb, but shutting down the District of Columbia was 
dumber. The District of Columbia is already on the operating table 
suffering an acute financial crisis so severe that the city has a 
control board. Even a month-to-month continuing resolution would 
cripple the District of Columbia. Doling out money in small amounts 
makes it almost impossible to run a complicated city and pay 
obligations on time.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why a bipartisan bill, the D.C. Fiscal 
Protection Act, is being marked up on Friday. It is the responsible and 
fair thing to do.

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