Arlen Specter: “I have sought recognition, Mr. President, to express my chagrin and disappointment that we are apparently not going to…”

“I have sought recognition, Mr. President, to express my chagrin and disappointment that we are apparently not going to have an omnibus appropriations bill, but later today are going to proceed with another continuing resolution. Perhaps it is appropriate on April 1, on April Fool's Day, that Washington, DC, again looks like a collective group of April fools unable to pass a budget, and on April Fool's Day unable to finish the business of the preceding year, 1995. Within the past hour I have come from the conference of the House and Senate where very strenuous efforts have been made for the past several days to find a compromise on appropriations. I have the honor to chair the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services. Perhaps I use the wrong word when I say it is an 'honor.' It has been really an embarrassment that we have not been able to bring a bill, the legislation, to fruition for funding which should have been in place by last October 1. But that bill has been tied up for a variety of reasons, with equal blame apportioned on both sides of the aisle, while we have been in gridlock on a number of matters.…”