[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE BUDGET AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, it greatly concerns me, and I believe it 
concerns most Americans, that we may face the prospect of not having a 
budget this year. As we consider the proper role of Government, let us 
not forget the natural dangers we face.
  Over the past days and weeks, many of the Northeast have been held in 
the grip of inclement weather.
  First, it was record-level snow that shut down the Government, 
without one Member of Congress being here. More recently, it was 
uncontrollable flooding that left many unable to function and caused 
one of our largest States, Pennsylvania, to make a public appeal for 
Federal intervention.
  If nothing else proves that we need a Federal Government that works 
and works for all of us--it is nature's wrath that makes the point. I 
hope the pundits are wrong--I hope we will pass a budget that is not 
only cost efficient, but civil.
  We have terrestrial problems that we cannot handle. We do not need to 
create more problems by functioning in a less than civil way and by 
failing to govern.

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