[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 3, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H64-H65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     VICTIMS OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Edwards] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, hostage-taking should have no place in a 
democracy. There is nothing wrong with this Congress or any Congress 
having an open, honest debate about a budget plan. If this year's 
budget debate takes 2 more days, 2 more weeks, or even 2 more months, 
there is nothing wrong with that. Open democracy and debate is what 
this institution is all about.
  But it is terribly wrong, and it is totally wrong, for Speaker 
Gingrich and Gingrich Republicans of this House to 

[[Page H65]]
use Federal employees and their families as hostages during this budget 
debate. To harm innocent families is morally wrong. Even Ebenezer 
Scrooge showed some compassion at Christmastime, but Christmas has come 
and gone. Yet speaker Gingrich and his band of extremists in this House 
have continued to furlough hundreds of thousands of Federal employees. 
No telling how many Tiny Tims across America have been harmed as 
innocent victims in this ploy.
  Tonight let the American people be very clear about facts. Fact No. 
1: Yesterday Senator Dole in the other body voted unanimously to pass a 
resolution to put Federal workers back to work immediately. As Mr. Dole 
said, and I quote, ``Enough is enough.''
  Fact No. 2: If this House would simply take the Dole resolution, 
passed unanimously in the Senate, and pass it in the House, it would 
take 15 minutes to do so. After that 15-minute vote, the President 
would sign it, and within hours hundreds of thousands of Federal 
employees would be back to work and be earning a paycheck and servicing 
our Nation's senior citizens and veterans and students who need loans 
in order to better themselves.
  Fact No. 3, and this is a sad fact but a true one: Today in this 
House Speaker Gingrich and a band of his supporters chose not to even 
let this House have a vote on the Dole resolution to put the Federal 
Government back into operation and to put Federal workers back to work.
  Speaker Gingrich basically denied the democratic process today. In 
doing so, he harmed hundreds of thousands of Federal employees and the 
many millions of people that they serve, including our Nation's 
veterans who put their lives on the line for this Nation.
  There has been a lot of talk about statistics during this budget 
debate. In the next few moments, I just simply want to put a human face 
on the victims of the Gingrich plan to shut down the Federal 
Government.
  One letter from my district said this. I had a phone call today from 
a woman veteran who is being set up for a bone marrow transplant for 
breast cancer. She wondered if she would soon hear about her VA claim. 
I tried to explain to her about the furloughs at the regional office.
  Another letter from my district:

       Dear Congressman Edwards:
       I am a medical administration specialist at the Waco VA 
     medical center. I'm also a single parent with a teenager at 
     home and a child in college. I just received a $78 paycheck. 
     I've had to borrow money from my mother to pay my rent. I 
     don't know how I'm going to pay my daughter's college tuition 
     payment that is due now.

  She goes on to say,

       It is obvious to me that the honorable Speaker and his 
     staff have lost sight of the human face of their actions. 
     We're not faceless. We are someone's wife, husband, brother, 
     sister, son, daughter. When we are held hostage by the whims 
     of Washington legislators, our hardship radiates out into the 
     community.

  Another letter from a Government employee in my district:

       Dear Congressman Chet Edwards:
       I am a government employee with the Veterans 
     Administration. This government shutdown has caused me great 
     hardship. I am unable to purchase my insulin medication for 
     diabetes.

  Let me repeat that, my colleagues:

       I am unable to purchase my insulin medication for diabetes. 
     I have had to borrow money for food and medicine. My rent has 
     to be paid by the first of the month. My landlord, who 
     ironically is owned by the government, is the housing 
     authority, and they are gong to charge me $25 for the first 
     day and $5 every extra day that I do not have money to pay my 
     rent.

  Mr. Speaker, that is the face of the victims of this needless, 
absolutely unproductive Federal shutdown, and there are many more faces 
throughout the country. In the days ahead I have every intention of 
letting this House know of the victims from these games that are being 
played.

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