[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3648-H3649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EMERGENCY RELIEF SUPPLEMENTAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address the 
House and particularly to respond to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. 
Scarborough], who spoke and who since left.
  Mr. Scarborough made the point that Republicans, he said, were 
perceived as not liking children, not liking senior citizens, and now 
not liking flood victims. I do not know whether that is the case. Maybe 
that is his feeling and his concern. He also observed that both sides 
of the House have added things to emergency relief bills in the past 
and cited a New York Times article, which I have not read but which I 
know to be true.
  That is the case. There is always the time when a bill that should 
pass and most of us believe must pass and be signed, in this case the 
belief for those who have been ravaged by rains and flood and who are 
at risk and what this Nation wants to help. Everybody believes this 
bill ought to pass and it ought to pass quickly.
  But lest my colleagues or anybody else be confused that this is the 
regular course of business, let me reflect a little bit on history. It 
took just 15 days to provide the assistance that President Bush asked 
this Congress to give for the victims of Hurricane Andrew. We are now 
in the 83rd day.
  It was not that President Bush and the Congress, then led by 
Democrats, controlled by Democrats, agreed on everything. That was not 
the case. But what President Bush and the Democratic Congress did agree 
on was that it was our responsibility to pass that emergency relief in 
a timely fashion, 15 days, as opposed to the 83 days that this bill has 
languished in this Congress.
  And why does this bill languish? Why does a bill that everybody said 
should pass and must pass not pass? It is, Mr. Speaker, because the 
leadership of this House and the leadership of the Senate has 
determined that they want to stare down the President, that they want 
to muscle the President, that they want to leverage the President, and 
they have taken hostage the victims of the floods of these past months 
in order to accomplish that objective.
  My colleagues have heard the issues discussed. There are two 
principal ones. One is called a continuing resolution and it is put 
forth by the Republicans in this House and in the Senate as an effort 
to prevent government shutdown.
  Mr. Speaker, I represent 56,000 Federal employees. I am for 
preventing government shutdown. In point of fact, it was in the last 
Congress for the first time since I have been serving since 1981 that 
we consciously and purposefully shut down the Government.
  The Republican leadership said in April of 1995 they were going to do 
that. They reiterated that in July of 1995. And sure enough, on 
November 19, 1995, they shut down the Government, looked the President 
in the eye, and said, if you do not do it my way, we will do it no way.
  That is not what the people sent us here to do. They sent us here to 
work together. The fact of the matter is that when we did work 
together, we passed appropriation bills and we opened the Government 
after 2 long shutdowns consciously planned by the Republican majority 
to force the President to do something that he said he was not going to 
do. That never happened when the Republicans were in control in the 
1980s and the first 2 years of the 1990s and Democrats controlled this 
Congress.
  Were there differences? Yes. Did the Democrats try to get advantage 
on the Republican President? Yes. But did there come a time when they 
said that they would not move, that they would be immovable in the face 
of presidential opposition? The answer is no.

[[Page H3649]]

  When President Clinton asked for relief for the Midwest floods just 
in the last Congress, it just took us 29 days, less than one half of 
the time that this bill has languished in this House and in the Senate. 
The other issue that the Republicans talk about as being a must add to 
the emergency relief for flood victims is this sampling issue. It is 
all about politics, because Republicans have been quoted as saying, 
``If we allow sampling and the count that will result, we will find 
poor people, we will find minorities, and we are afraid that they will 
vote for Democrats and that will be to our political disadvantage.''
  So the Speaker of the House, who two years ago said that he thought 
sampling made sense and ought to be pursued has changed his position. 
And who suffers? The victims of the rain and the floods are held 
hostage as this political dispute is engaged.
  Mr. Speaker, a number of us have risen on this floor tonight, a 
number of us are rising throughout this city and talking to the press, 
talking to the public, and talking, yes, to our colleagues. We have a 
budget agreement. We sat down and for 5 months worked out a very tough 
problem. I supported it. That is the proper process, not to hold 
hostage, either Government employees or flood victims or some other 
group and say, we will hold their relief in abeyance if they do not 
agree with us.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, we urge the leadership of this House and the Senate 
to bring to this floor a clean, continuing resolution, relief for flood 
victims, support for our troops in Bosnia and around the world. Pass 
that, the President will sign it. We can pass it by 12 noon tomorrow 
and the President will sign it by tomorrow afternoon. That is what we 
ought to do. Let us be about the business of giving relief to the 
victims of these floods.

                          ____________________