[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H282-H283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ZEALOTRY HAS AGAIN SHUT DOWN MUCH OF AMERICA'S GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, during the first dreadful year of the 
Republican takeover of this Congress, zealots right here in this House 
insisted on shutting down the government of the United States of 
America, causing considerable disruption and attracting a rather 
considerable and well-justified indignation and public outrage on the 
part of the American people.
  I believe that America needs to know that this same brand of zealotry 
has again shut down a large part of our American government. During the 
month of January, the Congress of the United States did not approve one 
single bill.
  This Congress indeed failed to even consider or debate here in the 
House a single piece of legislation; not improvements on the quality of 
public education, not a consumer bill of rights to help those who have 
been mismanaged by managed care in this country, not reform of our 
campaign finance system that is at the heart of so much wrong in what 
happens in this Congress. Not anything was done in this Congress.
  Indeed, the leadership of this House has announced within the last 
few days that it plans to put campaign finance reform on the back 
burner, the same method that was used to strangle reform in 1998 and 
the years before under Republican control of this Congress.
  While most Americans are out there working at least an 8-hour day, 
this House of Representatives worked on this floor during the month of 
January an 8-hour month. That is right, the House met here in session 
to work on the problems of the American people about the same amount of 
time in the entire month as the ordinary American worked in one single 
day.
  Keep in mind that this inaction on the part of the Congress follows 
the year of 1998, a year which has been hailed by historians as perhaps 
the most unproductive and irresponsible of any year in the history of 
the Congress in the post World War II era. This is a Congress that, for 
the first time in 30 years of having a Budget Act, was not even able to 
agree on a Federal budget resolution because of an internal struggle in 
the Republican caucus here in the House between the far right and the 
not-so-right.
  After failing to gain approval of a variety of schemes, this was a 
Republican House whose major accomplishment in

[[Page H283]]

1998 was the passage of something called the Omnibus Appropriations 
Bill. That was the one that weighed in here at 40 pounds, almost broke 
the table up here at the front of the Congress, and which was presented 
in such a fashion that few if any Members knew what was in it until 
weeks later, as the reporters began to discover all the pork that was 
laden in this allegedly conservative bill.
  Undoubtedly some Americans are going to be pleased to hear that this 
Congress is shut down and not doing anything, instead of approving that 
kind of nonsense. No doubt there will be some on the fringes who really 
believe the government should do nothing that will be very pleased that 
their dreams have been realized and that this House is largely doing 
nothing.
  February, well, it does not look noticeably better. Under the best of 
circumstances, this House may convene for a few hours on about 10 days 
to approve a few largely uncontested bills.
  Today, for example, we will pass the first piece of legislation in 
this Congress. It is a measure that we are approving, reapproving 
today, in the very same words that we approved unanimously last year. 
For some reason the Senate never got around to considering it.
  Tomorrow we will replace one stopgap measure approved last fall with 
another stopgap measure to carry us forward just a few more months 
until the House finally gets down to work to develop a meaningful 
bipartisan long-term solution to the transportation problem.
  I would say that even if we gave Ken Starr another $50 million or so 
to waste, I do not even believe he could find anything notable that 
this House has done in the opening weeks of 1999 to help the ordinary 
American citizen. Most of the folks that I represent down in central 
Texas would prefer to see their Representatives in this House, the 
people's House, tending to the Nation's business.
  The President has outlined what I think are a number of very 
important budget priorities throughout December and January. I believe 
they demand our attention and debate. He has emphasized the importance 
of conserving the surplus, letting it build up. I believe we should do 
that. I believe it is time to stop the shutdown of this House and get 
back to the Nation's business.

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