[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H96]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         EVERY DAY OF SHUTDOWN COSTS APPROXIMATELY $50 MILLION

  (Mrs. KENNELLY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, on day 20 of the longest Government 
shutdown in history, once again yesterday the Republican majority 
refused to open the Government. This is a cruel, unnecessary hardship. 
There is not a businessowner in this country who would demand that his 
or her employees cease working and forgo their paychecks indefinitely. 
There is not a private employee in this country who would be expected 
to tolerate such treatment. Yet our Federal workers are forced to 
accept idleness or to work without pay.
  Meanwhile, taxpayers are also paying an unfair price. Who is 
eliminating health and safety violations while OSHA is closed? Who is 
making sure laid-off workers are going to get the compensation they 
paid into? Who is looking out for the integrity of worker pension 
plans? In a word--nobody.
  But everybody--every taxpayer--will be footing the bill for this 
fiasco. Every day of shutdown costs approximately $50 million. Talk 
about Government waste.
  This situation is wrong. I urge my colleagues, pass legislation to 
open the Government.

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