[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 25, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS FOREVER

  (Mr. GEKAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, everyone will recall that the government 
shut-down last term and all the ramifications that followed. Many can 
make the case that it was the President who was at fault because he 
could have signed the appropriations bills that would have let 
government go on and he could have said, as he did on the welfare bill, 
well, there are some things wrong here but we will fix them later. But 
he chose to veto that bill.
  Others can make the case that the Congress failed because they did 
not produce an appropriations bill to the liking of the President. And 
so what happened? The government shut down.
  I have introduced legislation for several terms now which can end 
government shutdowns forever. I implore the Members of the House on 
both sides to join in cosponsorship and support of this legislation. It 
would mean that at the end of a fiscal year, if no budget has been 
enacted by the time the clock chimes in for the next budget year, that 
there would be an automatic instant replay of some percentage of the 
last year's budget so that government can go on while the negotiators 
proceed with producing a new budget for the new fiscal year.
  We will hear more about this as the time goes on and even today under 
special orders.

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