Ed Royce: “at a time when our government is running chronic $200 billion deficits at a time when we are $5 trillion in debt, with a…”

“at a time when our government is running chronic $200 billion deficits at a time when we are $5 trillion in debt, with a devastating effect on our national savings rate, this reform for Government is critical. This is essentially the same bill that was approved by the House on August 2, as an amendment to the Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill. It is similar to the House resolution I offered earlier this year. The lockbox provision in that Labor HHS bill was adopted by a vote of 373 to 52, better than 85 percent of this House. Basically, the bill establishes a series of lockboxes in every appropriations measure considered by this House to ensure that savings made from amendments on this floor will go toward reducing the Federal deficit. As many of us have come to realize, unfortunately, this is not now the case, since savings realized from amendments to appropriations bills may be used for other funds or projects in that bill or other appropriations bills. A good example of that was last year in this Congress when $100 million was eliminated by an amendment on this floor from the ASRM program, but we later found out that those funds wound up in other programs rather than going to deficit reduction. I would just like to share that, as a cochairman of the porkbusters coalition in this Congress, I would hate to see something like that happen again. I would hate to see what happened last year happen again. This bill will ensure that it does not.”