[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CHILD SUPPORT SUFFERS DURING SHUTDOWN

  (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, it is truly difficult to balance the family 
budget when you do not know when the next check is coming in. I know, 
because 28 years ago I was a single working mother with three small 
children, and I never received the child support that I was owed. Yet, 
as we head into the 20th day of the Gingrich Government shutdown, that 
is the same situation that the new majority is forcing on thousands of 
American families. Each day the Gingrich shutdown drags on, 
approximately 20,000 deadbeat parents get off the hook from paying 
their child support.
  It is one thing being poor, Mr. Speaker, but not knowing when and if 
a check will come in severely compounds the problem.
  By continuing to insist on huge Medicare cuts and education cuts and 
massive special interest tax breaks, the Gingrich Republicans are 
leaving thousands of American families in limbo, not knowing when they 
will receive their next child support check. It is time to end the 
Gingrich shutdown.

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