[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 21, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH DISASTER RELIEF AND WIC FUNDS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it has now been 60 days since the President 
sent disaster relief legislation to the Congress. My colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle would rather play politics with the bill than 
move to provide needed relief for flood victims. Republicans have added 
a poison pill to the legislation, which in fact would ultimately reduce 
the levels of funding for education, for the women, infants, and 
children program, and for other programs that directly benefit working 
middle class families today. This could undermine the entire bipartisan 
budget agreement that we did work into the wee hours of the morning to 
pass.
  Meanwhile, the flood victims continue to wait for their disaster 
relief money. In addition, 360,000 women, infants, and children who 
receive nutrition assistance from the WIC program are at risk for 
losing milk, formula, and cereal. I urge my Republican colleagues, stop 
playing politics with the bill. Let us pass the legislation. Let the 
President sign it, and move quickly to get these funds to the folks who 
so desperately need them.

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