[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 35 (Thursday, March 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SPUTTERING CONGRESS TO LEAVE TOWN WITH WORK UNDONE
(Mr. DOGGETT asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, this is a Congress that operates in spurts,
and it is sputtering today as its Members head home for yet another
extended weekend with the work of this country not done. The reason
that that has occurred, and the reason that this is a Congress of near
total failure, is that we have got a Speaker of the House who rejects
any meaningful bipartisanship, and we have a whole lot of Members in
the Republican Caucus who seem to think that working to achieve common
ground to solve the real problems of working families in this country
is somehow a sin.
Who bears the brunt of this failed Congress? It is the children of
our country. It is the 12,000 Texas children to whom this Republican
leadership says, ``No Head Start for you. We will give you the wrong
start,'' not the Head Start to be advancing within our society. It is
the same Republican leadership that says to over 2,000 prekindergarten
students in my home of Austin, TX, ``You get half the kindergarten that
you would otherwise get because we are not going to give you
educational opportunity.''
We Democrats say more educational opportunities. These Republicans
say more education obstacles.
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