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




                       GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN UNFAIR

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, it is time for this House of Representatives 
to get a grip. The shutdown of the Federal Government is unworthy of a 
great country. The irresponsible actions of this House have increased 
the economic uncertainty of our Federal workers. Whether they get paid 
eventually or not is unknown, but what is known is that those 
industries which depend on the Federal Government operating will never 
be made whole.
  Think, in our area in California, Mariposa County has appealed to 
Governor Wilson to declare them a disaster area because of the loss of 
business due to the closing of Yosemite Park. It goes on and on, with 
coffee shops and stationery stores and all the rest who do business as 
a result of the Federal Government and Federal buildings being 
functioning.
  Mr. Speaker, for a Nation that prides itself on the issue of 
fairness, this shutdown is unfair to the American taxpayer, unfair to 
the Federal workers, unfair to American businesses who want to engage 
in trade. We are not able to protect our environment, to conduct our 
foreign policy.
  Mr. Speaker, if this is the tactic that the Republicans want to use, 
then in a sense of fairness we should not be accepting our own 
paychecks.

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