[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15282-H15283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NO LINKAGE BETWEEN CR AND BALANCED BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Engel] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, let us make no mistake about 
this. It is the Republicans who are shutting down the Government. 
Clearly and simply, the Republicans, by refusing to vote for a 
continuing resolution to keep the Government open, are shutting down 
the Government. They have the majority of votes here and in the Senate, 
they could easily keep the Government open by voting for a clean 
continuing resolution with no strings attached, no blackmail attached, 
and the Government would open and 250,000 Federal workers would go back 
to work, and then we could negotiate a budget.
  But no, they will not do that, because they are trying to link the 
two issues together; they are saying they will vote for no continuing 
resolution until there is a 7-year balanced budget.
  Now, I want everybody to understand that there is no linkage to 
keeping the Government open with a continuing resolution and a balanced 
budget. The Republicans are the ones who are linking it. The reason we 
are in trouble in the first place is because they did not do their job.
  October 1, 1995 was the start of the new fiscal year, and there are 
13 appropriations bills which the Republicans were supposed to have 
sent to the President of the United States, and by that time they had 
sent only 3 So it is their fault that the Government could not continue 
and that the Government had to shut down; and the only way you can keep 
the Government open under those circumstances, when the majority party 
does not do its job by sending the appropriations bills to the 
President, is by passing a continuing resolution. They are refusing to 
do that.
  All of this talk and rhetoric about balancing the budget in 7 years 
is a separate issue from the continuing resolution and from the 
Government shutdown. The President of the United 

[[Page H15283]]
States has said, and rightfully so, that he will not be blackmailed 
into accepting the Republican mean-spirited and extreme agenda.
  Yes, the majority of Americans want to see a balanced budget, but 
when you ask the majority of Americans, do you want to see a balanced 
budget at the expense of Medicare and Medicaid, if it means devastating 
Medicare and Medicaid, the American people overwhelmingly say no. Well, 
on the Democratic side of the aisle we say that Medicare and Medicaid 
and education and the environment and helping working people and not 
giving a tax break for the rich are Democratic priorities.

                              {time}  1830

  While the President did agree 31 days ago to have a 7-year balanced 
budget, CBO-scored, the Republicans also agreed to protect the 
Democratic priorities of Medicare, Medicaid, education, the 
environment, and student loans.
  It seems to me that the President, by accepting the concept of a 7-
year balanced budget, CBO-scored, has done more to compromise with what 
the Republicans want to see than the Republicans are doing to 
compromise with the Democrats. Instead, we get this mean-spirited, 
extreme attitude, ``We're going to shut the Government down if we don't 
get our way.''
  Newt Gingrich came to the Republican Conference this morning 
attempting to compromise, apparently, and he was told, ``No, we are not 
going to have a continuing resolution, we're going to shut the 
Government down.'' This from the party that talks about family values. 
A quarter of a million American workers before Christmas are thrown out 
of work, and they talk about family values.
  Congress is going to be in session next week, so we cannot be with 
our families. They talk about family values. Now, I do not mind 
Congress being in session if we are actually doing something, but we 
have been sitting around here all day long today and yesterday while 
the Republicans are caucusing and not getting anything done, not doing 
the people's work, arguing, quibbling, passing ridiculous, irrelevant 
resolutions instead of passing the continuing resolution to get 
Government open again.
  That is the truth. So do not talk to me about family values, do not 
talk to me about balanced budgets, when you are the ones that are not 
allowing compromises to be made.
  We talk about health care, whether it is a cut in Medicare or just a 
lessening of an increase, the bottom line is senior citizens in my 
district and in everybody's districts are on Medicare and Medicaid. The 
health care coverage is inadequate now. They do not have enough money 
now to buy medicine.
  But let us look at the health care that seniors are getting now in 
1995, and what kind of health care will they be getting in 2002 under 
the Republican plan? The answer is seniors will be paying more and 
getting less. They will not have the choice. They will be thrown into 
HMO's. They will not have a choice.
  So let us stop the nonsense, let us pass the continuing resolution, 
let us open up Government again, and then let us negotiate on a 
balanced budget. One issue has nothing to do with the other.

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