[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 200 (Friday, December 15, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18712-S18713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, if I could just take a minute here, let me 
indicate that I still do not know for certain what the program will be 
today, tomorrow, and Sunday. I had hoped we would have some serious 
budget negotiations.
  I have just listened to the President of the United States. I must 
say I do not know who gives him advice, but I do not think he is 
telling the American people the truth. If he thinks he is engaged in 
serious budget discussions, then he ought to take a look at the budget.
  I must say that this administration is for a one-way street. It is 
all right to cooperate with them, but they are not going to cooperate 
with anyone else. And I have made an effort to do that as recently as 
48 hours ago on this floor.
  I am a little frustrated that we have been 26 days now waiting for 
the administration to give us a legitimate offer to balance the budget 
in 7 years, using Congressional Budget Office estimates. It was my 
understanding, in talking with the President yesterday, that there 
would be a serious offer given to Republicans today. Anyone with any 
knowledge of the budget process could look at the offer made and tell 
you very quickly that it was not a serious offer. But here the 
President of the United States is getting on television saying that 
Republicans are recommending devastating cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, 
the environment and student loans after we put money back into those 
programs in our legitimate offer earlier today.
  So I am almost convinced that there is no real desire on the part of 
this administration to do anything except to play politics with the 
budget--and play politics with senior citizens and play politics with 
every other interest group in America. We have made an effort time 
after time to meet the President halfway.
  I believe the American people want a balanced budget in 7 years. They 
have indicated that. The President agreed to it, but we cannot do it 
with the same old smoke and mirrors.
  In fact, $54 billion of the savings today was ``baseline 
adjustments,'' which is one example, and there are other examples in 
the President's bill. Tax cuts--he has tax cuts in his bill, too, I 
think--in what, the 5th year. If everything was not in balance, you 
would trigger over those tax cuts. That is another way of how they save 
$23 billion. That is something that even Darman had not thought of when 
he was here. So they thought of a lot of good things down there.
  But I would hope the President of the United States would contact 
this Senator and the Speaker of the House of Representatives--the three 
of us sit down and get serious. This is serious business. If we do not 
have some agreement, if we do not pass the continuing resolution by 
Sunday evening, the Government will shut down again.
  One way to avoid that is to let us bring up the Labor-HHS bill, which 
the Democrats twice have objected to. We are going to ask consent--I 
guess we 

[[Page S18713]]
have already asked consent. That has been objected to. There are about 
180,000 Federal workers. But, again, the Democrats will not agree to 
bring it up unless we agree to everything they want--take out striker 
replacement, do not vote on the abortion amendments. In other words, 
what we will do as the minority, and then we will accept or let you 
bring it up on the floor.

  So we would like to bring it up tonight and be on it all day tomorrow 
and all day Sunday. By Monday morning, maybe we could have it passed 
and go to conference and bring it back. That would be 180,000 Americans 
who could go to work.
  We are going to send down to the President now State, Justice, 
Commerce. VA-HUD will be sent down to the President; Interior 
appropriations tomorrow. All he has to do is sign those bills, and that 
will take care of nearly all of the Federal employees. That will leave 
remaining the District of Columbia bill and Foreign Ops. If we can get 
an agreement to bring up Labor-HHS, let us pass that tomorrow or Sunday 
in the Senate.
  So if the President is not willing to negotiate the balanced budget 
except on his terms, and he is not willing to sign the appropriations 
bills we send him except on his terms and is not willing to let us 
bring up one of the largest bills with the most Federal employees--
Labor-HHS, we have been prepared for the past 2 or 3 months, but it has 
been objected to by the Democrats.
  So I hope the American people understand, if people who are covered 
by that bill are not working on Monday, why they are not working on 
Monday.
  So, again, I would say to the President of the United States, tell 
the American people the truth. Do not come on television, Mr. 
President, and say that we are devastating this and devastating that, 
because, in fact, you know that in our budget we added back billions of 
dollars in Medicare and Medicaid and made other real adjustments.
  Maybe it is impossible. Maybe we are not going to get anything done.
  If that is what the President wants, he ought to just tell us that so 
we can make alternative plans, pass a very stringent continuing 
resolution and assume that is all we are going to get done. But in the 
meantime, we are still working on our side. We are still trying to 
resolve the differences on the DC appropriations bill and on the 
foreign operations bill. And I hope that they would be ready for 
passage, if not today or tomorrow, on Monday.

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