[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    EFFECTS OF THE FEDERAL SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Maloney] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, the shutdown of the Federal Government is 
a national disgrace. Yesterday the Senate acknowledged that enough was 
enough, that the point had been made, that the issue of a 7-year 
balanced budget was being actively negotiated, and that it was time to 
stop the widespread suffering caused by the Government shutdown.
  But the extremist right wing in the House seems to have so much 
contempt for the Government and such indifference to the pain the 
shutdown is causing, that they will not listen to reason. They think 
nothing of using the Federal Government as a tool of political 
blackmail or extortion.
  Fortunately, President Clinton has protected his priorities and not 
caved in to these gangster tactics. In the 104th Congress, President 
Clinton and congressional Democrats have defended ordinary Americans 
who rely on programs like Medicare, Medicaid, student loans, and 
student lunches. Republicans have sought to gut these programs which 
help millions of people. So it should come as no surprise that they 
seem indifferent to the plight of millions of people, both clients and 
Government employees, who have suffered from the Government shutdown.
  I spoke to several such people Monday at the Federal Government 
headquarters in New York City. I met one of my constituents, Ms. Edio 
Rodriquez, there. She is a single mother trying to raise two children 
on her own. But this furloughed secretary at the Department of 
Environmental Protection has not been paid in several weeks. In the 
Rodriquez household, it was anything but a merry Christmas. The only 
household income is earned by one of her sons, who is also a college 
student. He may be forced to take next semester off because he cannot 
pay his student loans and support the family at the same time.
  An employee of the Social Security Administration put it beautifully 
when she said, ``I don't know the politics of the situation. They 
aren't clear. The humanity of the situation, or lack of it, is very 
clear. Working people should be paid, and people who have 23 years of 
service should not be told to go home and stay home against their will 
and without a paycheck.''
  The indifference of this new majority toward Federal employees is so 
overwhelming that I may be wasting my breath by talking about the 
humanity of the situation. But other Americans are being affected, too.
  I met my constituent Laurine Fox, a musician who was supposed to be 
the guest conductor for an orchestra in Bulgaria over the holidays, but 
Laurine could not get a passport because politicians in Washington are 
bickering.
  I met a woman whose elderly parents immigrated from Europe may years 
ago and now live in Georgia. They made a pilgrimage to New York to see 
their names inscribed on the wall at Ellis Island. But Ellis Island was 
closed, and their sentimental journey was ruined.
  It is not just individuals who are being harmed. U.S. manufacturing 
companies, the city of New York and the U.S. Government stand to lose 
millions of dollars, because the shutdown is rendering ineffectual the 
first Hungarian Apparel and Textile Manufacturing Seminar, which is 
scheduled to take place next Monday in New York. The Hungarians cannot 
come because they cannot get visas.
  Mr. Speaker, this is more than lost business opportunities; it is an 
international embarrassment.
  Mr. Speaker, we can no longer ignore the human beings who are 
suffering from Washington paralysis, like the jeweler who works right 
across the street from the Federal Building in New York City. His 
business over the Christmas season was down more than 60 percent. Yet 
some Members of the Republican majority have said that no one has 
noticed the Government shutdown. To those right-wing extremists, all I 
can say is try telling that to the American people. This shutdown is 
pure malicious insanity.
  Mr. Speaker, the blackmail and extortion will not work. It is time 
for the new majority to stop acting like gangsters and start acting 
like statesmen.

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