[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 28189]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   THE FINAL YEAR OF THE 20TH CENTURY, A DISAPPOINTMENT FOR AMERICAN 
                                FAMILIES

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, to my prior colleague, I would just say 
there is no money to deal with his budget and it is because they had an 
$892 billion tax cut for the wealthiest people in this country. Had 
they not tried this trick, we would be in a different position here 
today.
  This year, the final year, of the 20th century, has been a 
disappointing one for the American families. Every time Congress has 
had the opportunity to help families in a meaningful way, the 
Republican leadership has sided with the special interests over the 
public interests.

                              {time}  1030

  The list of casualties is long: A patients' bill of rights, campaign 
finance reform, Medicare prescription drug benefits, smaller class 
sizes, and sensible gun safety reform is also being killed.
  Since the Columbine tragedy occurred more than 6 months ago, the 
Republican leadership has consistently stifled every attempt to pass 
common sense gun safety measures, and yet 13 children every day are 
killed by guns, with 100,000 kids bringing guns to school every year. 
They should be ashamed of themselves, the Republican leadership, for 
letting the NRA write our gun laws and obstructing our attempts to 
close the loopholes that give criminals and children easy access to 
guns.

                          ____________________