[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15100-H15101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO UNEMPLOYED NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO GOVERNMENT 
                                SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. REED asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I have heard some callously suggest that if 
you shut down the Government no one would notice.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth.
  In my home State of Rhode Island, 27 Almacs supermarket stores have 
gone 

[[Page H15101]]
out of business during the holiday season.
  Normally, these 2,000 workers from Almacs would be eligible for 
emergency assistance from the Labor Department. But, with the shutdown, 
there is no one to process the State's application for assistance, and 
as a result, there will be no help for the families of Almacs workers 
during the holidays. And that, Mr. Speaker, is a shame.
  The Speaker could have prevented the shutdown and responded to last 
year's call for an end to gridlock. Because right now gridlock is back.
  The Republicans have a 7-year budget plan that is just too extreme, 
and they know it.
  I am glad the President did the right thing to protect the education, 
health care, and the environment.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge you to end the politics and start serious 
negotiations.

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