Hal Rogers: “I am sad to say that this is a sad day for the U.S. House. Why do I say that? Well, Mr. Speaker, the power of the purse…”

“I am sad to say that this is a sad day for the U.S. House. Why do I say that? Well, Mr. Speaker, the power of the purse is the most important power of the Congress. James Madison called the power of the purse "the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people." The power of the purse of the Congress is exercised through its Appropriations Committee and the appropriations process that is longstanding in this body. Today, we are throwing out that procedure. We are saying in this bill that all of the work that has gone on in the hearings, hundreds of hearings, hours and hundreds of hours of testimony that we have taken in the various subcommittee hearings from the administration, from outside witnesses, from Members of Congress, the Senate and so on, all of those hearings are being disregarded and thrown out.”