Tom Tancredo: “Mr. Chairman, since coming to Congress a little over a year ago, I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to…”

“Mr. Chairman, since coming to Congress a little over a year ago, I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to highlight the problems that I have come across in unauthorized spending. As I say, I know this is not the ultimate answer. It is our attempt to focus a little attention, a little light on the problem. The chart I have here does not come anywhere near indicating all the programs that are being presently appropriated for without authorization, but it just looks at a couple of things that I think are again interesting. Department of Justice, the last year it was authorized was 1980. The amount of authorization at that time was $1,954,000,000. The level appropriated in this bill $18,213,926,000. That growth has occurred without any authorization activity. For fiscal year 2000, according to the annual budget report released by the CBO, there were 247 programs funded in 137 laws, totaling over $120 billion wherein authorizations have expired. Last year there were 198 programs funded in 118 laws, totaling over $101 billion. I believe that this continuing practice has led to the deterioration of power of the authorizing committees and, thus, the loss of aggressive congressional oversight and fiscal responsibility. It has also led to the shift of power away from the legislative branch toward the administration and Federal bureaucracy.”