Political Quotes

“while waiting for the Senator from New Jersey to arrive in his seat, I want to associate myself with the remarks of the Senator from Mississippi, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Cochran. I want to be sure we understand that this idea of biennial budgeting is really a bad idea--well intentioned but a bad idea. The Isakson amendment goes beyond a 2-year budget resolution and calls for establishing 2-year appropriations of bills. The power of the purse is one of Congress's most powerful holds. We shouldn't give it up. What would happen, if we go with the Isakson and Shaheen amendment and not follow Cochran-Mikulski, we need to know we would be putting too much power in the hands of the executive branch, unelected bureaucrats, and OMB. So proponents of biennial appropriating will not approve congressional oversight--just the opposite. Without annual appropriations bills, agencies will have little incentive to be candid in their testimony and responsive to congressional will and congressional directives. We sacrifice our most important tool. The other consideration is the practicality. Under biennial appropriations, the timeline between the initial forecast and the actual budget could be 30 months; then, we can't also respond to emergencies. Threats change every day--ISIS, security, the crisis that just happened to our allies in Germany. We have to be able to respond. Congress should not tie its own hands and limit its ability.…”