[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               IS THE ERA OF BIG GOVERNMENT REALLY OVER?

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Madam Speaker, the President in his 1996 State of the 
Union performance said that ``The era of big government is over.'' Now, 
I suppose it is possible that he meant it, but one would never know it 
from looking at his record. The President and his liberal allies in 
Congress are threatening to shut down the government if Congress does 
not spend more money to create more bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.
  Let us take for example the issue of education spending. Now, 
Republicans want to spend the money but send it to the classroom. 
Democrats want to grow the Federal bureaucracy and give the bureaucracy 
a greater role in managing our local schools.
  Republicans think the Federal bureaucrats have done enough damage in 
education. Democrats want to spend money without setting priorities. 
Republicans want to send more money to the classroom while also keeping 
within budget agreement caps, which means there must be spending 
offsets.
  If the era of big government is truly over, then it is time for the 
President's actions to match his words.

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