Tom Tancredo: “among the many other positive aspects of the Conservative Action Team budget that I am up here to applaud and support is…”

“among the many other positive aspects of the Conservative Action Team budget that I am up here to applaud and support is something that is a little less sexy perhaps than tax cuts, a little less easy to understand perhaps than increases in defense appropriations or anything else; but it is something, nonetheless, that we need to address, and this CATs budget does, in fact, address it for the first time in a long time, the first time, as far as I know, ever, and that is the practice of providing funds, authorizing every single year, year in and year out, money for unauthorized programs. There is a process in this House that we are supposed to go through. The rule says that we cannot fund programs that are not authorized. Yet, year after year after year this has happened. Republicans, Democrats, it does not matter. This is not the way to provide fiscal responsibility. It is shirking our responsibility, if anything. For example, of the programs that we have been appropriating for but are not authorized, I just bring these few to your attention. The National Endowment for the Arts, $98 million funding received this year. It has not been authorized for 7 years. The National Endowment for Humanities has not been authorized for 7 years. The Federal Communications Commission, for 9 years. Family planning programs have not been authorized for 15 years. Power Marketing Administration, 16 years. Some of these are wonderful programs.…”