[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IT IS TIME TO GET THE FEDERAL WORKERS BACK TO WORK

  (Mr. DAVIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Speaker, I was moved today to hear the comments of a 
young man from Baltimore at a rally outside here, a Federal employee 
talking about the hardships that this furlough has placed on him and 
his young family, and I place the following in the Congressional 
Record:

       Like the rest of you who are here today, I am a furloughed 
     Federal Government employee . . . and I am essential.
       I work for the Health Care Financing Administration in 
     Baltimore, Maryland. At HCFA, I work to assure that all 
     Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries receive quality health 
     care. While my fellow furlough workers and I are not at work, 
     millions of beneficiaries run the risk of not receiving 
     quality health care. This is an extremely serious matter.
       I am here today to explain to President Clinton, Bob Dole, 
     Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey and other House Republicans what it 
     means to be on furlough while the Government continues to be 
     shut down.
       I am not alone. My situation is not unique.
       This past summer I got engaged to be married. My fiance is 
     a full time graduate student. We knew this year was going to 
     be tough managing on one income. Not this tough. The rent is 
     still due on the 1st of the month. Creditors want their 
     payments. Tuition needs to be paid. Our lives will go on, but 
     not without some serious pain.
       The furlough not only has affected my state of finances, 
     but also my state of mind. First, our political leaders 
     declare us ``not essential''--an ultimate slap in the face. 
     Then they allow this Government Shutdown to continue through 
     Christmas and New Years--Happy Holidays everyone. Lastly, we 
     have been told that we will receive back pay. This, however, 
     does not keep the creditors at bay.
       We deserve the respect we are entitled to. We serve because 
     we want to serve. We work for the Federal Government because 
     we want to help the public. Are the negotiators really 
     helping the public? I think not.
       Here we are standing in front of the U.S. Capitol. A symbol 
     of Democracy. An institution where leaders debate over 
     differences in ideology. In the past, these debates have 
     ended in compromise. Compromise is the name of the game. If 
     an individual decides to come to Washington, DC to serve, he 
     or she must understand the importance of compromise. I urge 
     the negotiators to reach a compromise on the budget so we can 
     put this behind us.
       As a result of the budget impasse, federal workers are 
     being used as pawns. But the real loser is the American 
     Public.
       Enough is enough. Again, we urge you, send us back to work.

  Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that it is time to get the 
hostages off the plane. It is time to get the Federal workers back to 
work. They have been unintended victims of this. We are on the verge of 
at least paying them for the time that some of them have missed, and 
some of them have been working and not been paid, and now it is time to 
get the rest of them back to work and performing the duties of 
Government.
  I favor a clean continuing resolution, but, if we cannot get that, I 
am for taking whatever steps we can toward moving this Government to 
open again.
  My message to both the President and the congressional leaders is let 
us negotiate this out, and to the President it is let us see what his 
balanced budget is. We know he does not like what his balanced budget 
is. We know he does not like what has come from this side. I would like 
to see what he proposes in comparison.
  I hope that they will work this out in the very near future. We are 
going to give them until January 26 to work this out.

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