Political Quotes

“Madam President, the amendment from the Senator from Kentucky seeks to reduce discretionary spending by $200 billion. The actual amendment would cut in excess of $155 billion from domestic discretionary spending programs and the balance from security-related programs. While I am sure the Senator is serious in his desire to cut spending, I would point out to my colleagues that for the remaining 6 months of this fiscal year, with the passage of the next short-term continuing resolution, the Federal Government will have less than $200 billion in fiscal year 11 funds remaining for domestic discretionary spending. My colleagues need to be advised that the CR that has passed the House will set a ceiling on domestic discretionary funding for the whole year at $400 billion. Since we are half way through the fiscal year, we have already allocated approximately half of these resources. Moreover, during the first 6 months of the fiscal year the government was funded at a higher rate, approximately $405 billion. Therefore, we only have approximately $195 billion remaining for the balance of the year to spend on all discretionary domestic programs. While there are examples where unobligated balances remain in some agencies, in general it is fair to say the Senator's amendment would cut this year's remaining domestic spending by 80 percent.…”