Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, today we are considering a rule for a truly terrible bill. The Committee on Appropriations has recommended…”

“Mr. Speaker, today we are considering a rule for a truly terrible bill. The Committee on Appropriations has recommended a bill which decimates nearly every program that affects school children, the elderly poor, working men and women, and the most vulnerable in our society. The committee has sent the House a bill which repeals family planning programs when at the same time the Congress has under consideration legislation which will effectively penalize unwed teenage mothers. The Appropriations Committee has sent a bill to the floor which reaches so far into the social safety net that it even cuts the President's request for Head Start by $500 million. And, while all of us certainly agree that there are many governmental programs which may be duplicative or unnecessary, the Appropriations Committee--not the legislative committees with jurisdiction--has sent us a bill which terminates 270 Federal programs. And, Mr. Speaker, to add insult to injury, this appropriations bill can hardly stand on its own by virtue of the fact that it is so loaded with legislative provisions.”