[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 203 (Monday, December 18, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18804-S18805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, during this second shutdown of the Federal 
Government, I am reminded of the old saying that two wrongs do not make 
a right.
  I believe it is wrong to tell 300,000 Federal workers that because 
the Government considers them nonessential, they cannot come into work 
today.
  But Mr. President, it is even more wrong to then turn to the American 
taxpayer and tell them to pay these workers for not working.
  That's right. For the second time this year, Washington is requiring 
taxpayers to pay with their hard-earned dollars for services that will 
never be given.
  While we may have honest differences about the amount of government 
people should pay for, I think we can all agree that taxpayers should 
not be forced to give something for nothing. But that is exactly what 
they are getting for their tax dollars: nothing.
  What is worse is that this whole situation has arisen because 
President Clinton has refused to carry through on his promise to 
deliver a 7-year balanced budget using real numbers.
  One month ago, when the first Government shutdown occurred, the 
debate was over whether or not to balance the budget in 7 years. It 
took a week, 800,000 furloughed employees, and a lot of complaints from 
the American taxpayers, but the President finally got the message.
  We came to an agreement by both Congress and the White House that the 
American people would finally get what they have been calling for--a 
real 7-year balanced budget. Gridlock was over. Or so we thought.
  Instead of following through on his promise, President Clinton has 
deliberated, deferred and delayed his balanced budget proposal. The 
only thing he has not done is delivered--and it does not look like he 
ever will.
  Make no mistake about it--the shutdown of the Federal Government and 
the problems it has caused the American people lie squarely on the 
shoulders of one man--William Jefferson Clinton.
  Nothing symbolizes that fact more than President Clinton's generous 
offer this weekend to pay out of his own pocket the cost of keeping the 
White House Christmas tree lit.
  What the President did not say is that the bill which would pay for 
this expense--the funding bill for the Department of the Interior--was 
sitting right on his desk over the weekend, unsigned.
  Now that the President has vetoed the Interior appropriations bill, 
is he prepared to pay for all the programs at the Department of 
Interior that he is holding up?
  Will he personally pay for the expenses at the Departments of 
Veterans' Administration, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, 
Justice, State and any other agency whose funding he has vetoed?
  Are the Democrats who are holding up the Labor-HHS bill in the Senate 
willing to use their salaries to pay for the programs at the 
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education?
  Are they willing to pay with their own money for the Low-Income 
Heating Energy Assistance Program, the funding for which they have 
stalled and refused to consider, even today in mid-December?
  Obviously, the answer is no. But if they did, if they were the ones 
forced to pay the bills, instead of the taxpayers, maybe things would 
be different. Maybe we would not be so willing to lay off Federal 
workers and then pay them for not working. Maybe we would not have so 
much Government to pay for in the first place.
  Unfortunately, justice and fairness for the taxpayers is not a 
concept well received in Washington, and as a result, the American 
taxpayers are stuck with the bill but without services rendered.
  On Friday, I introduced legislation that I believe will reverse this 
trend and restore some fairness to the taxpayers. The Federal 
Employment Taxpayer Accountability Act would eliminate the current 
distinction in law between nonessential and essential Federal workers, 
thereby considering them all essential.
  After all, if a worker is considered nonessential on 1 day of the 
year, what makes them so essential on the other 364? And why should we 
force the taxpayers to pay for a service that is considered 
nonessential?
  My legislation would ensure that all Federal workers are at their 
desks every day, that they no longer be used as pawns in a Washington 
chess match over the budget.
  It will help lift the morale of Federal workers by letting them know 
that their efforts are recognized and appreciated, while guaranteeing 
the taxpayers that only an honest day's work earns an honest day's pay.
  Mr. President, two wrongs do not make a right, nor do three or four 
or the many wrongs Washington has done the American taxpayer.
  Let us do something right for a change. Let us protect the taxpayers 
from having to pay for unsolicited vacation days in Washington because 
it is the right thing to do. Let us pass and get signed into law the 
remaining appropriations bills because it is the right thing to do. And 
let us deliver the American people a real, honest 7-year balanced 
budget before Christmas because it is the right thing to do.
  As 1995 comes to an end, I ask Congress and the President to make an 
early New Year's resolution on behalf of the taxpayers and our children 
and grandchildren that we will keep them in forefront of our minds as 
we conduct the people's business by doing the right thing.
  Thank you very much, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah. 
  
[[Page S18805]]

  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed 
to continue up to 10 minutes as if in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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