[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OPEN ACT OF 1996

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Meek] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, for 3 weeks part 
of the Federal Government was shut down. I do not want to dwell in the 
past and worry about who was to blame for this shutdown. I want to look 
to the future and try to prevent another shutdown.
  On February 6 I introduced a bipartisan bill to prevent another 
shutdown if there should be another lapse in appropriations. H.R. 2963, 
the Keep the Government Open Act of 1996, amends the Anti-Deficiency 
Act to permit Federal employees to continue to work and to be paid 
during a lapse in appropriations, if the President determines that a 
sufficient appropriation is likely to be made before the end of the 
fiscal year.
  The recent shutdown of the Federal Government wasted one billion 
taxpayer dollars. We ended up paying 285,000 Federal employees who were 
ordered not to work for 3 weeks. This shutdown also imposed a serious 
financial hardship on many of the 476,000 Federal workers who were not 
paid during this period even though they were ordered to work.
  The shutdown of the Federal Government hurt many private firms, both 
those that normally sell to Federal employees and those that have 
Federal contracts. They were unable to recoup the business they lost 
during the shutdown.
  The other cosponsors of this bipartisan bill are Mr. Davis, Mr. 
Hoyer, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Moran, Ms. Norton, and Mr. Wynn.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this insurance against another 
failure to enact funding bills.

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