[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CONGRESS TO BLAME FOR FEDERAL SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Brown] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if we do nothing else, it is our 
constitutional duty as Members of the U.S. Congress to pass the 
appropriation bills. Yet it is January 4, and we have only passed 7 of 
the 13 appropriation bills that are necessary to fund the Federal 
Government. No one is to blame except Congress; to exact, the extreme 
Republican Members of the House.
  It is hard to me to believe that Republicans want to recess until 
January 23. If you ask my opinion, they have been in recess since the 
beginning of the 104th Congress, because in the Constitution we must 
pass the appropriation bills, and not in the Republicans' contract.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to the distinguished gentlewoman 
from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro].
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I will be very, very brief, because I do 
not want to interrupt the gentlewoman's remarks. But our Republican 
colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox], who was here 
earlier, talked about a November 19 agreement, a continuing resolution 
that was in fact signed by the President and by the Speaker of the 
House. There were two parties to the agreement.

                              {time}  1945

  And the issue was to talk about a balanced budget in 7 years; but, 
also, part of that agreement was to reinforce the priorities and values 
of this Nation that include Medicare, Medicaid, education, the 
environment, and tax reform for working middle-class families.
  I dare say that the President has kept his part of the bargain. It is 
our Republican colleagues and Republican leadership in this House who 
have failed to move on any reduction in their cuts to Medicare and 
Medicaid, education, or the environment, or to remove their tax break 
package, which is $245 billion, to the wealthiest Americans.
  When we talk about that agreement, we need to talk about both sides 
who signed and discussed that agreement. And I thank my colleague for 
yielding to me.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the gentlewoman one 
question. Will you clear up for the American people the question as far 
as the balanced budget? They keep talking about the balanced budget. 
Yes; we want to balance the budget, but it is a question of priorities, 
shared sacrifices. What are some of the other factors?
  Ms. DeLAURO. Well, the issue is, and my colleague is right, there is 
not a Member of this House who does not want to see the Congress, House 
and the Senate, and the President put our fiscal house in order. 
Everyone wants to move in that direction. The question is, as you 
pointed out so well, the priorities in dealing with this budget, how 
one gets to a balanced budget.
  Now, if we want to talk about $245 billion in a tax break for the 
wealthiest Americans, provide them with that, and at the same time we 
want to cut $270 billion in Medicare, we want to cut $163 billion in 
Medicaid, we want to cut education programs, and the environment, and 
increase taxes for working middle-class families, then our priorities 
are wrong in terms of balancing that budget. Take that tax break 
package off of the table and then let us talk about balancing the 
budget.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. If the gentlewoman would stay with me, I would 
ask her, does she think this sounds a little like voodoo economics 
again?
  Ms. DeLAURO. It is really a shell game and politics at its worst in 
this body. The linking of the shutdown of the Government to the 
balanced budget, as I said, is the worst of politics because we cannot 
continue the budget negotiations or talk about what the American public 
wants to talk about in terms of Medicare and Medicaid.
  We do not have to keep this Government shut down. This is holding the 
American public hostage and workers hostage, and it is wrong, and I 
believe that the public is beginning to understand what is going on. 
The American public said to the President of the United States, veto 
this budget that cuts Medicare, Medicaid, and pays for a tax break for 
the wealthy. Sixty percent encouraged the President to veto this 
budget.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Well, I have heard three times today that you 
can fool some of the people some of the time. The American people need 
to let the Republicans know that they are not being fooled by this talk 
about balancing the budget while we do reverse Robin Hood, where we are 
robbing from the working people and poor people to give a tax break to 
people who do not need it, do not want it, and do not deserve it.
  Ms. DeLAURO. The gentlewoman from Florida is absolutely right. I 
applaud the work she has done on the floor of this House in order to 
try to bring out precisely what is going on here. Sometimes it is 
difficult to get the word out and to really have people understand what 
kind of a shell game is being played on them.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman.

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