[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H15279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THIS IS A HOSTAGE SITUATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. White). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Peterson] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. PETERSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this is a hostage situation. I 
know from which I speak. I was a hostage of the Vietnamese Government 
for six Christmases. I knew what was going on at that time. As a 
hostage in Vietnam I knew what my options were. I really had a feel of 
the paralysis of the circumstance, and I could live with that. I was a 
volunteer, just like so many of our brave men and women that are in 
Bosnia right now are volunteers to serve their Nation, and I would take 
my hit. I did not have any problem with that. But what we have here is 
a nation, an entire nation, every citizen of the United States, being 
held hostage to the radical extremist portion of the Republican Caucus 
conference.
  Now maybe they can justify that. Maybe that is OK. Maybe they are OK 
out there writing the new Dickens Christmas Schrooge Carol based on new 
circumstances, modern circumstances. Maybe in fact they all wish to be 
the Christmas Scrooge because they are holding not only the Federal 
employees who have been furloughed, they are holding this entire 
country hostage to an ideology that the country is not buying into.
  The United States citizenry is not extreme, they are not radicals. 
They are God-fearing, compassionate, logically thinking people, and 
they cannot understand why it is that we as a House of Representatives 
cannot sit down and agree to disagree; first of all, to get down to 
some negotiations, but then to get to the point of compromise, yes, 
compromise, the word ``compromise'' which has been for whatever reason 
essentially destroyed in its definition. In fact we are using the term 
``compromise'' in its worst categorization, which would be to suggest 
to compromise one's values.
  We are ultimately going to have to compromise, my colleagues. We are 
ultimately going to have to do the people's business. We are ultimately 
going to have to answer to the mainstream of America as we deal with 
this budget issue.
  Extremist, radical ideas are not America's ideas. There will be a 
price to pay if the radical elements continue, and that price will be 
paid at the ballot box next November because that is how it works here.
  The question is who, in fact, is in charge? Who is in charge? Who is 
leading here in this national government? We have lost our leadership. 
Clearly the Republican side has lost its leadership because they have 
failed to keep the motors of government working, which is their 
contract with America as a majority. It is their contract to keep the 
offices of the government running. They have purposefully shut them 
down, and they have done so, in fact I believe, with malice. We need to 
move on.

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