[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5246]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            AMERICAN PUBLIC DOES NOT WANT PARTISAN BICKERING

  (Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on 
the Budget, I spent much of last week wondering why the majority party 
has chosen to move forward with a budget that is clearly divisive.
  This morning the Washington Post reported, ``Congress is set to begin 
a week of partisan bickering today over a budget that Republican 
congressional leaders expect will provoke a veto shutdown with 
President Clinton later this year when it results in appropriations 
bills.''
  It baffles me. Why start out on such a sour note? The majority is 
clearly welcoming a partisan battle without first trying to find some 
common ground and some room for partisan cooperation.
  The American people have seen enough bickering to make them wonder 
what we are doing in Washington. The people I talk to want to make sure 
that we extend Medicare and Social Security. They want us to fight 
crime. They want us to help our schools. And they want us to create an 
even better business atmosphere. And the list goes on.
  There are many things the American public wants us to accomplish, but 
partisan bickering is not one of them.

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