[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H15099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, all around Washington, we hear the sounds 
of the season. Not the holiday season--the budget season.
  We hear the word furlough float through the air. Who gets furloughed 
if the Government keeps shutting down?
  But the key question is not furlough--it is how low? How low will the 
Speaker stoop to satisfy special interest sponsors? How long will 
Gingrich sink America's seniors into debt just to pay-off his own 
political debts?
  With every shutdown, we hear the question: Who is essential? But the 
key question is not who is essential, but what is essential?
  To Republicans, essential means the wealth of the upper-class rather 
than the health of the middle-class. To the GOP, essential means the 
priorities of powerful political patrons--rather than public programs 
that protect people.
  You hear the GOP say they are making history. But you will not hear 
them discuss the history of the Reagan-Bush era--and the trillions of 
dollars of debt they racked up. Those Republicans busted the budget by 
shifting the tax burden to working families and cutting the safety-net 
for the most vulnerable.
  Sound familiar? As we have all heard one Republican say, ``there they 
go again.''

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