John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Chairman, this bill really hides an inability to govern behind procedural changes, and I urge my colleagues to…”

“Mr. Chairman, this bill really hides an inability to govern behind procedural changes, and I urge my colleagues to oppose it. This bill changes our current budget resolution from a concurrent resolution to a joint resolution. The difference between the two is a concurrent resolution is created by Congress to guide the way through a budget process, whereas a joint resolution, on the other hand, is signed by the President and becomes law. Because it must be agreed upon by both the Congress and the President, a joint resolution necessarily takes much longer than a concurrent resolution. Mr. Chairman, our budget process is already slow enough. Under this bill's proposed joint resolution, the Committee on Appropriations cannot begin their work until a budget resolution is worked out and that, Mr. Chairman, as pointed out by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), could take an awful long time. If my Republican colleagues had a history of finishing the appropriation bills well before October 1, this proposal would not seem quite as ridiculous, but as it stands now the history leaves a bit to be desired. In the 104th Congress, my Republican colleagues, led by Speaker Gingrich, refused to compromise and failed to enact the 13 appropriation bills on time, and as a result they shut down the Federal Government for a period of 28 days.”