[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 76 (Thursday, June 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN OPPOSITION TO REPUBLICAN AMENDMENTS TO DISASTER RELIEF BILL

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, there are people in the Midwest who are 
suffering. Their homes have been destroyed by floods and they need our 
help. The Democrats in Congress have an emergency spending bill that 
will help them put their shattered lives back together.
  We want to help these victims but the Republicans will not let us.
  Instead, the Republicans are attaching language to a flood relief 
bill that would stop an accurate count of minorities in the census. The 
Republicans are so afraid of an accurate count of minorities that they 
are willing to let flood victims suffer.
  Mr. Speaker, the Republicans do not mind playing politics with the 
American people. They already shut down the Federal Government twice. 
Now they are fiddling while the Midwest drowns.

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