Porter Goss: “Members may not realize that, under the Budget Act, budget resolutions are privileged and may be brought directly to the…”

“Members may not realize that, under the Budget Act, budget resolutions are privileged and may be brought directly to the floor without passing through the Rules Committee. Under the normal rules of this House, any Member is supposed to have the opportunity to amend the budget resolution on the floor. In this case today, though, the normal procedures were set aside and the Rules Committee was asked to structure debate on the budget resolution--placing limits on the involvement of Members in outlining our budget priorities for the next 5 years. Managing the public's budget and bringing down our staggering national debt is arguably one of the most important parts of every Member's job. Yet Members will only have a limited set of preselected options from which to choose as we proceed today. That is not the way it is supposed to work. The majority seemed to have an especially strong interest in expediting this important step in our budget process today getting to the budget resolution. One might even call it rushing it through even though we are already a full 2 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule.”