Andrea Seastrand: “I had hoped to come to the floor today and vote for yet another essential part of the Contract With America, the limits…”

“I had hoped to come to the floor today and vote for yet another essential part of the Contract With America, the limits on unfunded mandates. Since it appears that stall tactics are working, we will not be voting on this important provision today. But I felt it necessary to give a simple example of the term unfunded mandates. An example is worth a thousand definitions. In my home State of California, the California Department of Finance estimates that one piece of legislation alone, the National Voter Registration Act, more commonly known as motor voter, will cost our State $3.8 billion alone in 1994 and 1995. They further go on to point out that the cost to California in unfunded and underfunded mandates for 1993-94 and 1994-95 will cost more than $15 billion. I know that might not seem like too much money to some that serve in this House. However, we should adhere to the words of the late Everett Dirksen who said, "A billion here, a billion there and sooner or later we're talking about real money."”