[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E31]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 U.S. GOVERNMENT VERSUS SENIOR CITIZENS

                                 ______


                            HON. BILL ARCHER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 5, 1996

  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I commend to the Members attention the 
following:

           [From the Houston Chronicle, Friday, Jan. 5, 1996]

      Preview.--Government Shutdown Woes A Taste of Things To Come

       The federal government shutdown is forcing a scramble among 
     state officials for money to keep meals going to seniors and 
     unemployment checks to the out-of-work. For the time being, 
     this government paralysis is of Washington's own making.
       However, the current state of affairs could turn out to be 
     a whiff of some rotten times ahead if federal overspending 
     and raging deficits are not brought under control through a 
     balanced budget.
       Popular wisdom calls for U.S. budget practices to conform 
     to those of families and businesses, which must live within 
     their means. The analogy is simple, perhaps even an 
     oversimplification. Yet it is fitting.
       Even those who argue the contrary--that families and 
     businesses take on debt to finance children's educations or 
     for capital improvements--neglect to notice that unpaid debt 
     can lead to bankruptcy and the dire consequences that follow 
     from financial mismanagement and spiraling interest costs.
       For the United States, we are getting a taste now of what 
     hardships a national bankruptcy would provoke. Because of the 
     ongoing government shutdown, some state officials are tapping 
     retirement accounts to fund unemployment benefits. Others are 
     scrambling to find ways to pay for meal programs for the 
     elderly and for food stamps and the early education program 
     Head Start.
       President Clinton himself pointed out these and a host of 
     other areas in which the shutdown could exact its toll. And 
     yet, he encourages the myth that steps the Republican-
     controlled Congress proposes to reduce spending amount to 
     cuts that are too severe.
       As we have said many times, the ``cuts'' are only to the 
     rate of growth. And, continuing on the present course of free 
     spending and deficits spiraling could lead to a federal 
     breakdown that cannot be fixed by another appropriations 
     bill.

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