Lloyd Bentsen: “Members, sometimes admitting to making a mistake is difficult, and I think this legislation is evidence of that, that…”

“Members, sometimes admitting to making a mistake is difficult, and I think this legislation is evidence of that, that our colleagues on the Republican side have made a mistake. Senator Dole showed that they made a mistake the other day, and they are trying to come back to some sanity, and they have not quite gotten there. This bill is good for the employees because it honors the contract we had. They are going to get paid for the time they worked. But it is a raw deal for the taxpayer. Twelve thousand NASA contractors are not going to get paid in the Johnson Space Center. Small businesses are not going to get their loans. Three thousand NIH grants will not be renewed, including 400 cancer grants. Baylor College of Medicine at the Texas Medical Center, 327 grants and contracts are going to be terminated, $78 million at risk. Real employees are going to be laid off. Homeowners who rely on the Federal Home Administration for FHA loans are not going to get their loans processed, and that is going to ripple through the whole real estate economy. Let us defeat the previous question. Let us do what Senator Dole asked. Let us put the Government back to work. Let us give the taxpayers a good deal, and let our colleagues just admit they made a mistake.”