[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S19022-S19024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I have waited around the floor of the 
Senate tonight because I wanted to make a few remarks about where we 
stand in this battle for some sanity around here in the Congress.
  We are now in the 5th day of our second Government shutdown this 
year. It seems to me if we have any obligation, it is to keep the 
people's business moving forward. It is totally unnecessary to have 
this shutdown, but for the fact that there are some who want to 
essentially hold a legislative gun to the head of President Clinton and 
use the threat of a shutdown, indeed, the fact of a shutdown, to force 
him to sign a 7-year budget that in his opinion will harm the American 
people because there are terribly deep cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, 
education and the environment, and tax increases on those people 
earning under $30,000 a year.
  So the President is not going to agree to that. So there are those on 
the Republican side, particularly on the House side, who believe that 
shutting down this Government is a perfectly legitimate way for them to 
express their dissatisfaction with President Clinton for not signing 
this very extreme and very radical budget.
  The President is not going to sign it. The American people do not 
want a President who will fold under that kind of tactic. And here we 
stand. No reason at all. I was here on the weekend, Sunday, when the 
Democratic side offered an opportunity to resolve this, pass the 
resolution, the continuing resolution, keep the Government going, and 
continue the hard and fast negotiations that have begun. But no. I have 
never seen anything quite like it.
  I saw a freshman Republican Member of the House on national 
television tonight, all smiles. He thinks this is really fun and games. 
He said he did not care if the Government ever opened up again as far 
as he was concerned. He would not vote to keep the Government going 
until the President signed a budget he agreed with.
  I think that representative ought to read the Constitution. He may 
not understand that we have a separation of powers and a balance of 
powers. The fact of the matter is, as much as this representative does 
not like it, President Clinton is a Democrat and so are many Members of 
the House and Senate. The Republicans do not run the White House or, 
frankly, have a working control over the Senate or the House. There are 
very close margins here, and so they have to compromise. But this young 
fellow does not seem to have the word ``compromise'' in his vocabulary.
  But I will tell you one thing he has in his pocket, he has his 
paycheck. He has his paycheck in his pocket. He can demagog this issue 
and never feel the pain. But the American people, who deserve to have 
the parks open, who deserve to have the veterans checks sent out, who 
deserve to have a functioning Government, deserve to be able to get a 
passport, if they need it.
  They are getting hurt, inconvenienced. For what? For what? Newt 
Gingrich has said several times he is going to vote to pay all these 
people who are not going to work. What is going on here? What is going 
on?
  So there are Federal employees, despite Newt Gingrich's comments, who 
are not getting paid right now. Oh, but Members of Congress, we are 
getting our pay. It is just fine and dandy. What a legislative 
runaround my ``No Budget, No Pay'' bill has been given. And if I ever 
go into the classroom to teach a course in Government, I am going to 
bring this chart with me. It says ``No Budget, No Pay. How a Bill Does 
Not Become a Law.'' I have never seen a runaround like it.

  Three times--three times--Senators have passed this legislation. 
Senator Dole supports it, Senator Daschle supports it; Republicans and 
Democrats alike--approved, approved, approved. Passed as an amendment 
to the D.C. appropriations bill. Unfortunately, the D.C. bill is stuck 
and we do not know the fate of ``No Budget, No Pay.'' But it does not 
look promising.
  Amendment to the reconciliation bill--knocked out.
  Amendment to the ICC sunset bill, which may come up tomorrow --
knocked out.
  Who knocked it out? The Republican Congress.
  Blocked in the House by the leadership-controlled Rules Committee 
which refuses to allow a vote on it.
  Five times Congressman Dick Durbin tried to get a vote. It is real 
simple. If Federal employees do not get their pay, neither should we. 
Blocked, stalled. And the President waits with his pen to sign it. He 
supports this. His pay would be docked as well. So ``How a Bill Does 
Not Become a Law,'' a new chapter in the textbook of our children--a 
sad new chapter.
  Newt Gingrich has consistently blocked a House vote on this bill. I 
have to, again, say to my friends on the other side, they ought to read 
the Constitution, Article I, Section 7, which says:

       Every bill which shall have passed the House of 
     Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a 
     Law, be presented to the President of the United States. * * 
     * 

  Imagine, we have a President and he has to sign the bill. If he does 
not like it and if he thinks it is harmful, if he thinks it cuts too 
deeply into Medicare and Medicaid and education and the environment, he 
will not sign it, he will veto it. Then what happens? It does not say 
shut down the Government. It does not say that. It says that if two-
thirds of those voting override him, the bill shall become law. 
Everyone should read the Constitution every once in a while--especially 
the new freshmen over there. They do not control the President of the 
United States of America. Thank goodness. Thank goodness, or we would 
have a mean-spirited country.
  Now, this Government shutdown, while more limited than the first one, 
has caused great hardship. National parks have closed; veterans 
benefits checks, due next week, will not be sent; passport offices 
virtually have closed, and the program for tracking deadbeat dads is 
not operating.
  Swell. Where are our family values? Family values. But shut down the 
program that tracks the deadbeat dads, and you, Members of Congress, 
keep getting your pay.
  Lovely. Great values. Great values for our kids.
  Safety inspections of new toys have stopped. Great timing.
  New FHA homeowner loans are not being processed for people who want 
to buy their first home.
  I have talked, on this floor, about the individuals who work for the 
Federal Government, who went to work for their country because they are 
proud to work for their country, and they cannot even buy their kids 
Christmas gifts. But Members of Congress, oh, we can get our kids 
gifts--Hanukkah gifts, Christmas gifts. It is OK because we are so 
important that we set ourselves above the other working men and women 
of the Federal Government.
  A lot of our Federal employees are not independently wealthy. They 
live from paycheck to paycheck. Some families have two workers in them 
that both work for the Federal Government, like Larry Drake and his 
wife Joan. Larry works for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Joan 
works at the Public Health Service. Both have been furloughed. Their 
family has lost 100 percent of its income. They do not know if 

[[Page S19023]]
they will get it back or when they will get it back. They hope they 
will get it back. They want to go to work. If this shutdown lasts long, 
they may not be able to make their mortgage payment.

  Ray Montgomery works for the Census Bureau in Los Angeles. He is 
classified as an intermittent employee even though he works 40 hours a 
week, but he will not ever recover his back pay. Ray told my office he 
is so worried about the second shutdown he has not bought any Christmas 
presents for his family. Ray wrote to me,

       For heavens sakes, I am one paycheck away from being 
     homeless. I work hard to be a credit for my country. I try to 
     be a good representative of Government employees for the 
     American people.

  It is absolutely embarrassing that the greatest country in the world 
cannot keep services going. If we want to argue about whether these 
services are important, that is a legitimate argument. Some of us might 
think it is very important to have people tracking deadbeat dads. 
Others might say, ``No, leave that to someone else, we should not do 
it.'' That is fair. That is the long-term discussion of what our 
priorities are. It should not mean that in the short run these hard-
working people are in limbo.
  By the way, there are about 280,000 of them. That is 280,000 
families. My home county has about 215,000 people living in it. So 
there is more unemployed tonight in this interim period than my entire 
home county. It is unbelievable. You figure 280,000 workers, and many 
them are married with children. You are talking half a million people 
who are probably directly impacted by this.
  Now, the Senator from Maine and I, Senator Snowe, have an excellent 
bill. It says Members of Congress should be treated the same way as the 
most adversely impacted Federal employee. We had our efforts blocked 
here also. This is a bipartisan effort here in the U.S. Senate. The 
Senator from West Virginia, Senator Byrd, said put partisanship aside. 
I think that is very good advice. That is why I reached out to the 
Senator from Maine, Senator Snowe, and to Senator Dole, and brought 
Senator Dole and Senator Daschle both solidly behind this bill.
  Over on the House, a Republican Congress has blocked it, blocked it, 
blocked it, blocked it, blocked it, blocked it, five times--stalled it. 
Members of Congress who go on national television practically giggling 
with joy at what they are doing, continue to bring home a pretty hefty 
paycheck. It is embarrassing.
  Now, I have to say there is a show on CNN entitled ``Talk Back 
Live.'' A Member of the House leadership said that he opposed my bill, 
saying--and this is directly from the transcript--``I am not a Federal 
employee.'' Imagine--who pays his check? Some private corporation? No, 
the Federal Government. But he does not consider himself a Federal 
employee. He is more important. He said, ``I am not a Federal employee. 
I am a constitutional officer.''
  Madam President, it is this kind of attitude that has led us to these 
unnecessary Government shutdowns. We are setting ourselves above 
others, and that is dangerous. People who do that come down real hard. 
Ever see people like that in life who set themselves apart, they think 
they are so special? Well, some day, they will learn to be humble. God 
has a way of doing that and so do the voters.
  I continue to believe if we fail to do the most basic part of our 
job, then we do not deserve to be paid.
  I want to read from this transcript from the show. Just so I put it 
on the Record, this is Representative Thomas DeLay, who is the majority 
whip over in the House of Representatives. Susan Rook, the MC, says, 
``I think Patty brings up a really good point * * * I want it go back 
to Representative Boxer in the Senate who cosponsored a bill, and it 
was saying, `OK, we, the legislators, will not get paid' * * * Her 
office said the bill passed unanimously in the Senate three times, but 
it was held up in the House because of Newt Gingrich. Your response?''
  To which Representative Tom DeLay says, ``Look, Ms. Boxer''--he did 
not say ``Senator,'' but that is OK--``Ms. Boxer is demagoguing this 
issue and trying to change the subject. Ask Ms. Boxer if she voted for 
a balanced budget. She did not. She does not want a balanced budget, 
and she's trying to change the subject.''
  Now, No. 1, he had no idea what I voted for. I voted for two balanced 
budgets. It is in the Record. One was written by Bill Bradley and one 
written by Kent Conrad, and I support another effort by the Senate 
Democrats, CBO scored, 7 years, balance the budget.
  But, of course, he knows what I voted for, I guess. So he says I was 
just trying to change the subject. But the moderator does not buy it 
and says, ``Yeah, but if Federal employees are not getting their pay, 
or Marty--actually Cathy, right behind you. Marty you were telling us a 
story. Now, you are a Federal employee but considered essential. What 
about some of your supplies?''
  Answer, ``Supplies aren't available. We work a 24-hour shift, so the 
fire department is our home for 24 hours. And you've got to basically 
ration because the money is not in our budget, because there is no 
budget * * * ''
  This is someone in a fire department.
  And then an audience member says--oh, and then she says, ``Marty, 
would you feel better if they said, `OK, if you're not getting your 
supplies, if they're not getting their paychecks, we won't get paid 
either'? Would that make you feel at least better toward all of them?'' 
Meaning us Members of Congress.
  And the audience member says, ``Either that or else have them, you 
know, cut back what they were making. They're making $100,000, I'm 
making, you know, 32.''
  He is wrong, we are making $133,000. We are making $133,000 a year 
and we are getting our pay. And people making $32,000 and $24,000 are 
trying to support their families.
  Then another person said, ``Good ol' Newt. Pay him, but not the 
government workers, by golly.''
  So, people do not like this. And then it went on and on, people 
asking Mr. DeLay continually.
  This is Tom DeLay, one of the leaders in the House. He says, ``Well, 
Susan, you can play all these games you want to change the subject. The 
point here is that if the President was concerned about Federal 
employees and their pay, he wouldn't have vetoed [all these bills].''
  And she says, ``OK, but Marty's question * * * why don't you go ahead 
and take a pay cut? So would you support the Boxer bill or no?"
  And he says, ``No, I would not. I am not a Federal employee. I am a 
constitutional officer. My job is in the Constitution. * * * ''
  And then an audience member says, ``But why are you not a government 
employee?"
  And he says, the leader, the majority whip over there, ``I am not a 
government employee. I am in the Constitution.''
  ``You are, sir,'' says another audience member.
  And then the audience member says, ``Where is your ethics at? You're 
a government employee. All of you are government. All of you fall into 
the Federal Government * * * everybody gets paid by the Government.''
  And then he says, Susan, why is it all you want to do is talk about 
salaries, et cetera.
  So, here you have a situation where the leadership of the Republican 
House of Representatives is thrilled and delighted to shut this 
Government down. They object to a very clean CR, that is a continuing 
resolution, to in fact keep this Government running. They want to put a 
gun to the President's head and hold this Government hostage. And he is 
not going to do it. And that is where we stand tonight.
  Madam President, I am going to complete my remarks, could I have just 
an additional 1 minute?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Absolutely.
  Mrs. BOXER. Thank you very much. I just hope that Members who might 
have heard me talk tonight will begin to feel a little bit embarrassed 
themselves about the situation, a little bit ashamed about the 
situation, and that they will not continue, over there on the House 
side, to block the bipartisan ``No Budget, No Pay'' bill. But more 
important, that we get this Government rolling and we sit down like 
grown-ups, men and women, Republicans and Democrats, to debate the 
long-term issues.
  I know we can resolve the long-term issues. I know that we can. There 
is a lot of room for compromise. The Constitution wants us to 
compromise. Our 

[[Page S19024]]
founders envisioned something like this. That is why they have 
something called a veto, and a two-thirds override. If you cannot get 
that, my friends, you compromise to make it happen.
  So I am prayerful and I am hopeful that we will all grow up around 
here, start working together, and solve this crisis.
  Madam President, thank you for your generosity. I yield the floor.
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