Cord Byrd: “one of Congress's most fundamental duties is to make careful choices about how to spend the taxpayers' dollars. We are…”

“one of Congress's most fundamental duties is to make careful choices about how to spend the taxpayers' dollars. We are now over 67 days into the fiscal year. The Senate has passed only 3 of the 12 appropriations bills. Only two of the bills have been signed into law. The operations of government for 13 of the 15 executive branch Cabinet departments are being funded by a very restrictive continuing resolution. This dismal performance is not the result of the work of the Committee on Appropriations. The Committee on Appropriations did its work and on a bipartisan basis reported all 12 of its bills by July 26. Chairman Cochran did an outstanding job in leading the committee. Yet the appropriations process, once again, has fallen victim to politics. Before the November election, the Senate majority leadership decided that the Senate should not be given an opportunity to debate critical issues facing the Nation, so 8 of the 12 bills never came before the Senate. When it comes to the funding bills for domestic agencies, with the exception of Homeland Security, the majority leadership--and I say this respectfully--is apparently satisfied with a mindless continuing resolution.”