[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 8, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       DO NOT SHOOT THE MESSENGER

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing from the 
other side is, ``We are going to shoot the messenger and not change our 
message.''
  The Speaker in today's Washington Post said he is now blaming the 
media for the unpopularity of the Republican Party issues. He says the 
media is the reason why the public strongly opposes what they are 
trying to do to Medicare, opposing increases in the minimum wage, 
cutting education and the environment.
  Mr. Speaker, I will be the first to admit that the media and I 
sometimes have disagreements. But at some level we are all accountable. 
We have to be accountable. Maybe it is not the messenger. Maybe it is 
the message.
  We cannot balance the budget by cutting education funding, by cutting 
Medicare, and by shutting down the Government and by opposing a minimum 
wage increase. We need to be responsible for our message, and not blame 
the messenger.

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