[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S66-S67]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MOYNIHAN:
  S.J. Res. 46. A joint resolution making further continuing 
appropriations for the fiscal year 1996 for the operations of the 
Passport Office of the Department of State; to the Committee on 
Appropriations.


               passport office continuing appropriations

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, we find ourselves in the 20th day of an 
untenable situation. Large parts of the 

[[Page S67]]
Federal Government are closed. Spending authority is suspended for 9 
Cabinet departments and 38 agencies, commissions, and boards, which 
have responded by closing virtually all functions.
  Prior to 1982, the Federal Government had never closed. This is now 
the 12th closing in 14 years. Recall that the British arrived in 
Washington in 1814. They burnt the White House. They burnt the Capitol. 
We still did not close down the Federal Government. In the 1930's, in 
the midst of the worst depression we have ever had, we kept the Federal 
Government open. We now have an army in the Balkans. They deserve a 
better example.
  One critical service forced to close is the Passport Office of the 
Department of State. Last night, the Senate passed a continuing 
resolution attached to H.R. 1643 and the majority leader's back-to-work 
bill, S. 1508. Both of these measures would reopen our passport 
offices. But, apparently, the House may balk at approving these 
eminently reasonable and logical measures. Accordingly, I rise to 
introduce legislation to reopen the Passport Office. Last year 5.3 
million Americans applied for passports. This year the agency expects a 
record 5.6 million applications. Today, the Washington Post reports 
that the Government closing has created a backlog of 200,000 passport 
applications. This is no way to begin a record-breaking year at the 
Passport Office.
  Speaking of the backlog of passport applications is perhaps too 
callous. All of these applications were submitted by citizens who 
expect that the Federal Government will provide them with a passport so 
they can travel to other countries to conduct business, study, visit 
family and friends, and vacation. Two hundred and fifty constituents 
have contacted my office seeking assistance; however, the passport 
office will only issue passports in cases considered life or death 
emergencies. One man was unable to attend his daughter's wedding in 
London because his passport had expired and could not be renewed. 
Another who is employed abroad fears losing his job if he cannot get 
his passport renewed. For years, we badgered the Soviet Union to grant 
more passports to its citizens. Now we are denying them to our own.
  Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights, ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 2, 1992, recognizes that 
``Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.'' 
This is a binding international obligation of the United States, yet we 
have now taken action which violates that covenant.
  A 1- or 2-day delay might be considered a nuisance. For this to 
continue for 3 weeks leads to incalculable waste, as people are forced 
to cancel plans and seek refunds for reservations. This is not just. 
Closing passport offices and other large swaths of the Federal 
Government erodes the confidence of all Americans, disrupts the lives 
of those who rely on Government services, and discourages Federal 
workers. Clearly we have entered an Orwellian realm in which employees 
are paid not to work so that negotiations to save money can continue.
  The Founders of our Nation were astute students of government. They 
searched history to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of various 
political systems as they debated and later formed our own Government. 
They perceived how government power is derived from the consent of the 
governed. They perceived how government power is derived from the 
consent of the governed. In the Declaration of Independence they reveal 
their insights:

       We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are 
     created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with 
     certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, 
     Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these 
     Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their 
     just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever 
     any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it 
     is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to 
     institute new Government, . . . Prudence, indeed, will 
     dictate that Governments long established should not be 
     changed for light and transient Causes;

  Governance is a covenant between the people and their leaders. 
Perhaps not since secession has that covenant been so trampled. The 
closing of the Government ought never have begun. Now we should end it 
without further delay. At a minimum, we should reopen our passport 
offices.

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