Jasper Packard: “Today, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am proud to offer our first down payment to balance the budget by…”

“Today, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am proud to offer our first down payment to balance the budget by 2002. Republicans made a promise to the American people; now, we are putting out money where our mouth is. As chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, I am pleased to contribute to this effort. As the subcommittee responsible for funding Congress, I believe that our legislative branch must undergo the same kind of scrutiny as every other branch of Government. In fact, we should set the example. I made a commitment to not just downsize for downsizing's sake. I want to restructure, I want to make Congress work better at less cost. As part of that effort, we defunded the Joint Committee on Printing which oversees the Government Printing Office. This will remove duplication and redundancy. The House and the Senate's current committee apparatus can take over the Joint Committee's functions and eliminate the excessive overhead in the process. On a voice vote, my subcommittee unanimously approved the reductions we made. I am pleased to offer these cuts as part of the rescission bill now before us. Furthermore, I wish to commend the gentleman from Louisiana, Chairman Livingston, for his tenacious hard work and his dedication to deficit reduction. This is a transitional time in America. The voters asked for a smaller government that spends less, taxes less, and regulates less. We must make some difficult choices to accomplish our goal.”