[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H15308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE OPEN FOR ALL CITIZENS

  (Mr. OBEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I simply take this time to explain for the 
Record why I have cast the only vote against the proposition the House 
just voted on. I did not vote no because I was opposed to the 
proposition; as I said during debate, no one was opposed to the 
proposition. But House rules dictate if I were to be in a position to 
offer a motion to recommit that I needed to vote ``no'' on final 
passage.
  I did so because I felt strongly that we should not only open the 
government for the services provided in the resolution, but should also 
open the Government for the purpose of other services that could be 
provided by the veterans department, and all other government employees 
as well.
  The motion that I offered included all of the language of the 
original resolution, plus the additional language that would have 
opened up other functions of the veterans department, providing those 
services as well, and opened up all other agencies of the government 
which remained closed.
  So for procedural reasons, to protect my right to offer that language 
which included all of the language provided in the original resolution, 
I was required by the House rules to vote ``no.''.

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