[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PRESIDENT CLINTON PUTS POLITICS OVER PEOPLE ON FLOOD RELIEF LEGISLATION

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, yesterday President Clinton sent a callous 
message to the flood-ravaged American families in the Midwest. Only 
minutes after receiving the disaster relief bill from Capitol Hill, the 
President who likes to say that he feels our pain told thousands of 
flood victims that he was going to veto the bill that would help them 
rebuild their homes and get on with their lives.
  Why did President Clinton veto the legislation? Because the bill 
contained a provision that would stop him from forcing another 
Government shutdown. Let me repeat that. The President is withholding 
aid to thousands of flood victims so that he can reserve the right to 
once again put thousands and thousands of government employees out of 
work and bring the work of the Federal Government to a halt.
  Despite the fact that the President is a master at spin, Mr. Speaker, 
I do not think he is going to be able to spin this one much. The 
American people are going to see through this. It is politics at its 
worst. Let us get the disaster relief to the people who truly need it.

                          ____________________