[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1345
                    WHAT THE BUDGET DEBATE IS ABOUT

  (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I will be willing to admit that it is 
unfortunate that Federal employees are being furloughed in this great 
debate. But they are not the only hostages. They are not the only 
innocent ones.
  There are several hundred million people in this country who are held 
hostage by this whole process. The most innocent are our children and 
grandchildren, who are inheriting from this body a $5 trillion debt 
that will cost them in their lifetime, if they are born this year, 
$187,000 just to pay interest on the debt.
  This is a great debate. It is not a sandbox fight. It is about the 
direction of the Government. The dollar amounts are insignificant. What 
the President cannot tolerate is turning back to individuals the right 
to make decisions about their own lives. The nanny state will wither 
away and the left will lose control over the lives of people. That is 
what this debate is about and I am on the side of the innocent children 
and grandchildren.

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