[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 40 (Wednesday, April 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    EMERGENCY PHONES FOR EMERGENCIES

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, this morning while reading H.R. 4-1-98, I 
found hidden deep in the Senate appropriations bill a $60,000 
expenditure to install telephones in the Members-only Congressional 
bathrooms. That is right, $60,000 for Members to conduct business while 
doing their business. Emergency phones for emergencies.
  While Members have little time to waste, Mr. Speaker, that does not 
mean we have any more emergencies than the next guy. And, what is 
worse, this proposal calls for drilling holes in the historic mahogany 
shoeshine chair, which was donated to the House of Representatives by 
the Woodrow Wilson estate.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not good waste management. Let us see this 
proposal, H.R. 4-1-98, for the joke that it is, or we would be a bunch 
of April fools.

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