Steny Hoyer: “This is an institutional bill. This is a bill which is designed to allow the legislative body to carry out its…”

“This is an institutional bill. This is a bill which is designed to allow the legislative body to carry out its constitutional functions of overseeing a mammoth executive department and to make sure that, in fact, we have checks and balances. So although it may not be exciting, it is critical, as all of us, I think, on this floor know, to the exercise of our constitutional responsibility. So I clearly rise in strong support of this legislation. Obviously, any measure that trims spending from a previous fiscal year does so by proposing reductions in some programs. I would like to comment on a few provisions that are particularly important. One arm of Congress for which H.R. 2657 proposes a 1.3 percent reduction is the United States Capitol Police. We have all talked about that. Many of my colleagues know that on the Committee on House Administration and on the Subcommittee on Legislative for a number of years, I have been a strong supporter, as most people in this body have, of the Capitol Police.”