[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22425]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                WHO IS TO BLAME FOR DO-NOTHING CONGRESS?

  (Mr. SENSENBRENNER asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the 
distinguished minority leaders of both the House and the other body for 
settling what to me has long been a confusing issue.
  In spite of all the legislation the Republican Congress has passed so 
far, the Social Security lockbox, tax relief, and debt reduction, the 
Ed-Flex bill, and the military readiness bill, to name just a few, we 
have listened for months to Democrats bluster about the do-nothing 
Congress.
  When I picked up my copy of The Hill yesterday, I finally began to 
understand what they mean by a do-nothing Congress. They mean 
themselves. On the front page, the distinguished minority leader of the 
other body proclaimed his disappointment that the first session of the 
106th Congress was not more productive, while only a few lines of 
newsprint away the distinguished minority leader of the House claimed 
that the Democrats have dominated the Congressional agenda since 1994.
  So, Mr. Speaker, if the Democrats are in control and nothing is being 
done, then I ask the Members, who is to blame?

                          ____________________