[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1345-H1346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LET US WORK IN THE 105TH CONGRESS
(Mr. GREEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. GREEN. Mr. Speaker, the first 100 days are supposed to set the
standard for the session ahead. I hope this is not the case with this
Congress, which has been plagued with delays on everything, not the
least of which is the budget.
The Republican leadership has pushed back deadlines for voting for
budget proposals, and now we hear it will be the summertime before we
can expect to discuss the budget.
While the President submitted a budget more than 2 months ago, we
still have yet to see an alternative budget from the Republicans. While
we have fielded criticism on the President's budget, we cannot fight
fire with fire because we have nothing to add to the numbers to compare
the President's budget to what we have, which is nothing, so we have to
move.
Similarly, we continue to waste time by not addressing the health
care crisis for America's children. At the end of March a Families USA
study told us that 2 million people were uninsured for at least 1 month
in 1995 and 1996; 10 million children were uninsured for the
[[Page H1346]]
entire year of 1995. We need to address this issue and other issues
that affect our country.
Senators Kennedy and Hatch have worked together in a bipartisan
manner on a children's health care plan. Maybe we need to follow their
lead and do something for children's health care in this House. Lead,
follow, or get out of the way.
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