[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REPUBLICANS HAVE WALKED AWAY FROM THE BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS TABLE

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, House Budget Chairman John Kasich said in 
November about the budget negotiations, and I quote, ``Frankly, we do 
not ask for a lot. We ask for nothing more than a commitment to do this 
in a 7-year period. The priorities within that 7-year plan are 
negotiable.''
  Well, the President did exactly that, but now the Republicans want to 
move the goalpost in the middle of the game. Now the Republican 
leadership says that they will not negotiate on the budget priorities. 
What they want to do is to have a backroom deal on deep cuts in 
Medicare for a tax break for the wealthiest Americans.
  Where I come from a person's word is his or her bond. Mr. Kasich and 
other Members of the Republican majority gave their word that they 
would sit down and negotiate the details of the budget once the 
President produced a 7-year balanced budget. The President met the 
Republicans more than halfway, but instead of responding in kind, 
Republicans have walked away from the negotiating table, walking away 
from their promise to the President, but more importantly than that, 
walking away from their duty to the American people.

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