[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H125-H126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WE MUST WORK OUT OUR DIFFERENCES

  (Mr. HEFNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HEFNER. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentlemen are missing the point 
here. We are talking about a balanced 

[[Page H126]]
budget all the time. We are talking about opening up the Government.
  All Presidents past, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George 
Bush, when they had a disagreement, it is their perfect right to veto a 
bill.
  Incidentally, the bills that President Clinton got were far late. 
They were not anywhere near the time they were supposed to be here.
  The President has the right to veto a bill, and then you work out the 
differences.
  This is totally ridiculous to say, ``If you don't sign these bills 
like we passed them, like we want them, we are going to close the 
Government down and put all of these people out of work.''
  That is the process. The President has the right to veto a bill, and 
then you work with appropriations or the authorizers and then you work 
out the differences. You do not just get mad and throw a tantrum and 
close the Government down, our VA hospitals that are so vital to the 
people of this country.
  It is just not Federal employees it is hurting. It is average working 
people out there that depend on the services of the workers.
  This is totally ridiculous, holding them hostage because you have got 
a temper tantrum because you cannot have it like you want it.

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