Jim Nussle: “not since 1988--more than a decade and a half ago--has the Appropriations Committee passed all its bills out of the…”

“not since 1988--more than a decade and a half ago--has the Appropriations Committee passed all its bills out of the House before the Fourth of July. This year the committee stands poised to do so--even though its subcommittees have been restructured, and it is the first year at the helm for the Committee's new Chairman, the gentleman from San Bernardino County. I applaud the Committee and the Chairman for the deliberate pace they have maintained. The appropriations measure before us today provides funding for Transportation, Treasury, and Housing, as well as the Federal Judiciary and the District of Columbia. Under the reorganized subcommittee structure, this bill represents the first time Housing is matched with Transportation and Treasury in the same appropriations bill. I am pleased to report the bill is consistent with the levels established in H. Con. Res. 95, the House Concurrent Resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2006, which Congress adopted as its fiscal blueprint on April 28th. the budget resolution H.R. 3058 provides $115.2 billion in discretionary budgetary resources. This is a 7 percent increase over fiscal year 2005. Even so, the bill is consistent with the allocation to the subcommittee, and therefore complies with section 302(f) of the Budget Act, which prohibits consideration of bills in excess of an Appropriations subcommittee's 302(b) allocation of budget authority and outlays. The bill does not contain any emergency spending.…”