Chuck Schumer: “this is day 20 of the Government shutdown and it is beginning to bite. Not simply Federal employees but small business…”

“this is day 20 of the Government shutdown and it is beginning to bite. Not simply Federal employees but small business people who cannot get export licenses, other business people who want permits so they can put toxic waste aside and cannot and are closing down their businesses. Social Security recipients who want to sign up for Social Security the first time who cannot. It is affecting average Americans. Now we hear the most Orwellian of doublespeak from the other side. They blame President Clinton for this because of vetoing some bills that they do not like. Well, Presidents have vetoed bills throughout history, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Roosevelt. But what is different this time is not that the President vetoes bills but that this is the first Congress and only one House of this Congress because Senator Dole is not going along that says, if the President does not sign every bill we pass, we are shutting down the Government. That is a disgrace. It is a disgrace to all Americans, particularly those affected by this horrible shutdown.”