[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15276-H15277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CONTINUING RESOLUTION IS CONGRESS' RESPONSIBILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington [Mr. Dicks] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I was very surprised and disappointed today 
to learn that negotiations to get the Government operating again have 
been broken off. I just want to make sure that my constituents in the 
State of Washington know that I believe that this impasse is not 
justified; that it is, I believe, time for the senior Members of the 
House, both on the Democratic side, and the Republican side, to come 
together and to insist that we get a continuing resolution enacted 
which can only be done by this House and by this Congress.
  It is not the President of the United States's fault that the 
Republican Congress has refused to enact a continuing resolution. They 
have precipitated this crisis. As we remember, Speaker Gingrich said 
many months ago that he intended to do this very thing in order to try 
to get the President to capitulate and to accept his budget priorities 
which clearly are not acceptable to the American people.

                              {time}  1730

  I feel very strongly as someone who has served in this body for 19 
years that we have a responsibility as Members of this institution to 
keep this Government running. We have veterans who may possibly not get 
their checks in the next few days unless we get a 

[[Page H15277]]
continuing resolution passed. I am going to support that. If the 
leadership of the House brings it to the floor, we ought to vote on it 
and get it done. But I do not think it should stop there.
  I am concerned about the people who work in the Forest Service, who 
work in the Park Service, who work in the Department of the Interior 
and the people who work at Health and Human Services, all these other 
agencies who are not going to be taken care of. It is very obvious 
that, when there is a little heat put on, the majority is willing to 
make some adjustments. So if the American people want this Government 
to operate, they are going to have to make sure that the new Members 
who were elected last time hear from their constituents that they want 
this Government reopened and started.
  This is ridiculous, and then there is no justification for it. This 
is the worst crisis we have had in terms, I think, of the confidence of 
the people of this country about our Government. What the Republican 
majority wants is for Bill Clinton to capitulate and accept their very 
radical prescription for the budget. The American people do not accept 
the levels of cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. I think it is preposterous 
to have a $254 billion tax cut when we are trying to balance the 
budget. That tax cut makes it incumbent upon the majority then to make 
these very large cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and also in education 
and other very sensitive and important programs to the American people.
  I just hope we can bring some common sense back. I hope that the 
senior Members in the Democratic Party, the senior Members in the 
Republican Caucus can bring some sense back to this institution and do 
our job. We should initiate a continuing resolution to get these people 
back to work.
  I feel sorry for the Government workers and their families who at 
this Christmas time are being denied their work, their opportunity to 
earn a living, because of this impasse.
  I also urge the President to stand his ground. He should not 
capitulate. He should not accept this radical agenda. I am very upset 
about this. I am very upset and feel very badly for the people and 
their families who are being forced out of work because of this 
inability to reach an agreement.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DICKS. I yield to the gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. VOLKMER. It becomes very obvious to me at least, maybe not 
others, that there are those, especially among the freshman group, 
after listening to one of the freshman speak earlier today, that they 
almost relish the Government shutting down. The Federal Government is 
the enemy. They want to take it down to nothing.
  I can remember back when I had a conservative tell me that the 
Federal Government should defend our shores, deliver the mail, and get 
out of our pocketbooks. In other words, that is all the Federal 
Government should do. That is what I am hearing here, especially among 
the radical ones, that they want to shut the Federal Government down. 
To them there is nothing wrong with it. That is what one of the 
freshmen said earlier today.

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