Bernie Sanders

Mr. SANDERS

Mr. SANDERS. The gentleman comes from the great State of Wisconsin. Farmers are being driven off the land in Wisconsin. I had farmers coming to my office in tears because they are working 80 hours a week and losing their farm. Here is the question: Will the gentleman tell his colleagues how many farmers in Vermont have been driven off the land because of the introduction of BST? Do you know the answer?

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman tell the people of America, his colleagues, how many family farms in Wisconsin have gone out of business and how many farmers have been thrown off the land?

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey].

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, did the chairman say 25 minutes?

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I object.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, we are talking about the survival of the American family farm. I would ask for 30 minutes.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment, numbered 71.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, how many more amendments do we plan to offer?

Mr. SANDERS

Mr. SANDERS. That is not correct, sir.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, the amendment that was given to the Chair reads differently than what the Clerk has read.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I have a point of order.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. DeFazio].

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown].

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns]. (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur].

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Stockman].

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I object. There are a lot of Members who have waited about 7 months to discuss this issue and have never had that opportunity. I do not want to deny any Member the opportunity to speak on it.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, an hour and 20 minutes.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, this is a simple and straightforward amendment which should be supported by progressives, by conservatives, by moderates and everybody else. It should, in fact, be supported by every Member of Congress who is concerned about the proper separation of powers as defined by our Constitution and who cares about fiscal responsibility. This amendment prevents the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, or any future President, from appropriating money from the Exchange Stabilization Fund to bail out Mexico or any other country without the approval of Congress. In January of this year, the President announced that he felt it necessary to bail out the Mexican economy as a result of the devaluation of the peso. He initially indicated that he wanted congressional approval for his bailout and, in fact, won early support from congressional leaders of both parties. However, it soon became clear to the administration that they did not have the support for this bailout from a majority of the Members of Congress or from the American people. Poll after poll showed overwhelming opposition to the bailout, and more and more Members of Congress, Republicans, Democrats and the Independent, voiced disapproval of the bailout. Mr. Chairman, understanding that he did not have the votes in Congress to go forward with this proposal, President Clinton acted unilaterally and provided Mexico with a minimum of $20 billion in loans and loan guarantees, $20 billion. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is not about the wisdom or the folly of President Clinton's action in January or how successful or unsuccessful it might have been. That is an important discussion but not the main focus of my amendment. This amendment deals with one fundamental issue, one fundamental issue, and that is whether the Congress of the United States accepts its responsibility under the Constitution to appropriate funds or whether it will continue to abdicate that responsibility to the executive branch. That is the issue under discussion. If Members of this body support the $20 billion loan and loan guarantee program developed by the President for Mexico, they have every right to get on this floor to fight for that funding and to win a majority of the Members. Maybe they can and maybe they cannot. I do not know. But I do know that it is cowardly, irresponsible and probably unconstitutional for the Congress to abdicate its responsibility on this issue and not vote on the matter. Mr. Chairman, during the last several weeks, we have been having heated debates on the floor of the House about whether to appropriate $2 million for this program or $20 million for that project. Debates have gone on hour after hour, and some of them have been extremely heated. In every case, the final decision was made by a vote in this body in which every Member participated, and that is the way it is supposed to be. Mr. Chairman, how can we spend hour after hour debating a $5 million appropriation but not have any debate, not have any votes when we are talking about putting at risk $20 billion of taxpayer money as was the case with the bailout for Mexico? How can we ask our constituents back home to put up all of this money when we have not cast a vote on it? It seems to me to be absurd that we have dozens and dozens of votes for small appropriations but no vote for a $20 billion appropriation which puts at risk so much of our taxpayers money. I might add for the Members that if they think this issue is past history, they are wrong. The Treasury Department has already indicated, in a public hearing, that there is a possibility that they may be back for more money for the Mexican bailout in fiscal year 1996. Will the Congress cop again? Or will we have the guts to accept our responsibility? Mr. Chairman, this legislation should be supported in a bipartisan fashion, and I am delighted that we will have Members from both parties speaking in support of this amendment. This amendment should also not be considered as an attack on President Clinton, because it will apply to all presidents from here on in. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio, Ms. Marcy Kaptur.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.