The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE IRRESPONSIBLE COURSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S13-S14 on Jan. 3, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE IRRESPONSIBLE COURSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today we are in the 19th day of the longest Government shutdown in the Nation's history. Let me begin, as others have here today, by commending the majority leader for his action yesterday in bringing to a vote, here in the Senate, a continuing resolution to restore funding for the ongoing operation of the Government. I frankly regret that it took us 18 days to have that continuing resolution brought to the Senate floor. But, regardless, I was very pleased to see that action by the majority leader yesterday. I also commend all Senators for agreeing to the passage of the continuing resolution. I think we all know that under Senate rules, any Senator could have objected and could have kept that measure from passing in yesterday's session. It says something about the merits of this issue, this issue of the Government shutdown, that every single Senator agreed to allow that bill to pass.
Today, the House of Representatives will have to decide whether it, too, will pass the continuing resolution that we passed yesterday in the Senate, whether it will pass that resolution so it can be signed by the President and so that funding can be restored to the Government or, in the alternative, whether the House of Representatives will continue in what I believe is the irresponsible course that it has pursued, now, for several weeks.
Since this second shutdown of the Government began, I have spoken three times on the Senate floor. Each time I have denounced the refusal of the Congress to fund the Government as irresponsible. I have denounced it as being an abuse of power by the Congress and an abrogation of responsibility by the majority here in Congress. I believe very strongly that the Founding Fathers who wrote the Constitution expected more responsible conduct by the later generations who would serve in this Congress. I believe very strongly that the American people deserve more responsible conduct by their elected officials.
But I will not repeat today all the arguments that I made in the previous days. Instead, what I want to say today is that today, each Member of the House of Representatives should be given the opportunity to vote on whether or not to restore funding for the normal operation of Government. Let the people's elected Representatives vote on whether they believe that Government should be shut down or we should restore that funding.
I saw the Speaker of the House made a statement yesterday that he did not know whether the votes were there, in the House, and he doubted that the votes were there in the House to pass the continuing resolution that we passed here in the Senate. It is very simple to determine that. Just put the question to a vote. Let each Member come on the floor of the House and cast his or her vote and answer to his or her constituents for that vote.
The people's elected Representatives need to decide whether the Congress should continue to withhold funds needed to process student loans for this next semester of school. They need to decide whether it is proper for Congress to keep the campgrounds and monuments and visitors centers closed in our national forests and our national parks. They need to decide whether they want to continue withholding funds that are needed to process the 23,000 passport applications that are received each day by the State Department, that were received yesterday, that will be received again today. And they need to vote on whether the Congress wants to withhold one-half of the pay of three-
quarters of a million Federal workers or, in fact, withhold the pay of that entire group, entirely, for the month of January--which I understand will be the case unless some continuing resolution is passed.
People deserve to know how their elected Representatives stand on these issues. I know the response that some Republican House Members will give. They will refuse to vote for funding the Government and explain their position by invoking their earnest desire to get to a balanced budget. So let me respond to that just very briefly.
First of all, the issue of whether Congress shares with the President the obligation of maintaining the functioning of Government is a separate question from whether we ought to commit ourselves to reach a balanced budget at some future date. I believe strongly that the Congress does share that obligation to maintain a functioning Government and it is not an obligation that can be ducked by Members of Congress by simply changing the subject.
A second point is the obvious one that we are not going to bring the budget into balance this year. Nobody has stated that we could bring the budget into balance this year. The Speaker of the House has not claimed that, Senator Dole does not claim that, President Clinton has not claimed that. If everything works perfectly, the best that we could hope for is that if the Government takes certain steps during the next 7 years, and if the economy acts in certain ways during the next 7 years, that that combined result will get us to a balanced budget in the year 2002. So, those Congressmen and Senators, previously Senators, who insist on keeping the Government shut until the Government gets to a balanced budget will have a long time to wait.
Congress meets every year. We pass new budget bills every year. We pass new appropriations bills every year. None of what we do around here is chiseled in granite. All of it is subject to change during this next 7 years. So we need to get on with our business. And part of our business and part of our responsibility is to restore funding for the normal functioning of Government.
Finally, we have a shared commitment between the Congress and the President to reach a balanced budget. What we also need, and need very urgently in my opinion, is a shared commitment, including the commitment of House Republicans, to maintain a functioning Government. This Senate has acted responsibly in passing a continuing resolution to once again fund the Government as we did last evening. Today the House Republicans have the opportunity to act responsibly as well. I sincerely hope that they will seize that opportunity.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
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