[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PRIVATE SECTOR RISES TO OCCASION IN SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. TORKILDSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, today we did an important thing. We 
allowed Federal employees to go back to work and provide services that 
the taxpayers have been paying for. But I want to point out something 
else. We have people in the private sector who have also risen to the 
occasion. Several banks in my district, Fleet Bank, Bank of Boston, 
were willing to extend no-interest loans to those employees who may not 
have been able to draw a paycheck.
  I know our colleague, the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Kelly], had 
arranged an agreement for five community banks in her district to do 
the same thing.
  While there is a temptation to do a lot of blaming and a lot of name 
calling, I would ask everyone to resist and instead let us say thank 
you to those people in the private sector who stepped forward and said, 
``Let us do what we can to help,'' whether it be offering a no-interest 
loan, whether it be delaying payments on bills that are owed, realizing 
that there is a crisis out there that was not of many people's making.
  In the meantime, now that we have a pay bill for 3 weeks, let us all 
come together to work out a balanced budget, a truly balanced budget. 
It has been stated time and time again that is what the President 
wants. Now is his opportunity to bring one forward.

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