John Sarbanes: “There were periods before the Civiletti decision in 1980 in which the Government continued to function without an…”

“There were periods before the Civiletti decision in 1980 in which the Government continued to function without an appropriations bill because there was not a ruling that under the Antideficiency Act, the Government could not go on functioning. So we did not have an appropriations bill, but the Government continued to function. Then we had this ruling that you are not allowed to do that. Subsequent to that, we had maybe a day, or a weekend, or something, in which there would be a gap in between having an appropriation bill, and either getting an appropriation or getting a continuing resolution. This is the first time, clearly, in which an extended period has been allowed to develop as a coercive tactic in closing down the Government. You cannot find a previous instance--you can find instances before the Civiletti opinion in which departments continued to function without an appropriations bill, but there was then a ruling that said such functioning ran counter to the Antideficiency Act. You can then find instances after the Civiletti opinion in which you had a period of a day or two or a weekend in which that was the case. But we never had an instance, as we have now experienced, where we have had 6 days earlier in 1995 and now we have run for 19 days and where it is clearly admitted that this is being used as a coercive tactic.”