[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         A COMMONSENSE PROPOSAL

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, during the 104th Congress, after the 
conflict over the Balanced Budget Act of 1995, the President came down 
to this very Chamber to plead, to beg, that we never, never, ever shut 
down the Government again.
  Well, apparently there has been another change of heart over at the 
White House. Apparently the White House actually sees value in shutting 
down the Government. They believe this so passionately that they are 
willing to block disaster relief for flood victims in the Dakotas and 
Minnesota.
  The Gekas-Wynn provision would maintain 100 percent of 1997 funding 
levels for the Government programs in the event that the President and 
Congress could not agree on appropriations bills.
  But somehow, incredibly, the President is rejecting this commonsense 
proposal. Why? Would the President really block disaster funding in 
order to shut down the Government? Apparently the answer to that 
question is yes.

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