Alan B. Mollohan: “I simply want to point out here that the only shutdown associated with this issue is the shutdown that is contained in…”

“I simply want to point out here that the only shutdown associated with this issue is the shutdown that is contained in this bill, the shutdown that is threatened by the language which limits the appropriation for census to midyear. That is the only shutdown we are talking about. The President had an agreement with the Republican majority. That agreement was untenable. That agreement is not even a part of this debate. I do not know why we have even alluded to it. The fact is the only shutdown that we are looking at is the language in this bill that would shut down the census at midyear next year and that threatens a viable census. I think it is important to understand that, that the threat to the 2000 census is contained in the bill, and the Mollohan amendment would free that up, allow it to be funded for the whole year.”