[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 207 (Friday, December 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S19270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                PRESIDENT CLINTON'S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

 Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, we are in the 7th day of a 
partial Government shutdown. The President is playing politics with 
this issue and he should stop it. He is trying to blame Congress for 
his failure to sign the legislation which would have averted this 
crisis. In addition, he is trying to divide the House freshmen and the 
House Republican leadership. And, he is trying to divide House and 
Senate Republicans. Such desperate tactics on his part are doomed to 
fail.
  Yesterday, in a demonstration of solidarity, House Republicans--
conservatives and moderates alike--told the Nation that the President's 
politics of division wouldn't work, that they remained united in our 
struggle against President Clinton's efforts to undermine a balanced 
budget agreement. More importantly, they rightly pointed the finger of 
blame for the partial Government shutdown directly at the White House.
  Congress has sent three spending bills to the President which would 
have kept open the Departments of Veterans Affairs, HUD, Commerce, 
Justice, State, and Interior. What did President Clinton do? He vetoed 
all of these bills, and in so doing delayed benefits checks to our 
Nation's veterans. He had the power to prevent the shutdown of these 
agencies and to keep Federal workers on the job. Instead, with the 
stroke of a pen he sent thousands of Federal workers home during this 
holiday season.
  The Congress did its job and passed appropriations bills which 
responsibly reduced Government spending and which would have kept 
agencies open. But, President Clinton wasn't interested in that. He was 
looking for a photo opportunity. He vetoed funding bills and closed 
down parts of the Government. He should be and will be held accountable 
for this shutdown.
  Furthermore, workers at the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education 
could be at the desks today if the Democrats would end the filibuster 
which they began in September.
  When you look at the Government shutdown, the facts simply don't 
support the President's extremist rhetoric. In reality, this crisis has 
been engineered by the President to bolster his reelection campaign. 
After being viewed as irrelevant for so long, the President has now 
identified himself with something he believes in passionately. He is 
passionate about spending--deficit spending. He is passionate about 
preserving the status quo which heaps trillions of dollars of debt on 
our children and grandchildren.
  I hope that he will abandon his harsh scare tactics and get serious 
about balancing the budget. It was not until just a few days ago that 
he agreed to finally offer a balanced budget plan using honest numbers. 
He finally abandoned his preferred strategy of cooking the books as a 
way to balance the budget. Such policies won't lead to a balanced 
budget. They never have and they never will. President Clinton had 
chosen the path of certain failure. Congress rightly did not follow him 
down that dead-end road.
  Although Congress has already passed legislation once to provide for 
veterans benefits, we have an opportunity today to overturn the 
President's action which cut off these funds. The men and women who 
have served our Nation in the armed services should not be used as a 
bargaining chip in this budget struggle between Congress and the 
President. I support the immediate restoration of funds for veteran 
benefits, and I hope that we will pass such legislation today.
  Finally, I call upon the President to give America a Christmas 
present in the form of a balanced budget and a working Government. I 
call upon him to sign the funding bills which he has rejected, and I 
call upon him to help end the Democratic filibuster of the Labor, HHS 
appropriations bill. If the President wanted--all of this could be done 
before Christmas.

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