On the recordJuly 30, 2013
I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Mr. Chairman, I, first of all, want to thank the chairman of the subcommittee, the ranking member, and all of the members of the subcommittee for their very good work. Given the allocation they have, they have done their very best. I would follow up on a number of remarks by my colleagues, including the chairman, and that is we need a deal. And my plea to the membership is we cannot continue to go on like this. This process no longer is on time. Our year starts October 1. In 2007, we finished in February. In 2008, we finished in December. In 2009, we finished in March. In 2010, we finished in December. In fiscal year 2011, we finished in April. In 2012, we finished in December. This year, we finished on March 26. Since 2007, we should have enacted 84 individual appropriation bills. We have enacted nine individually--about 10 percent of our work. Unfortunately, the body has made the work of this subcommittee, the full committee, and the other 11 subcommittees very difficult. For fiscal year 2013, our committee was given a target in the summer of 2011, under the Budget Control Act. The target was changed under a resolution passed by the House for the budget in the spring of 2012. The target was changed again on January 1, 2013. Subsequently, we have sequestration. My plea to the general membership is, please, just give this exceptional committee one target and let us do our work.…
