Haley Stevens: “this amendment realigns responsibility for intelligence appropriations from the Appropriations Committee to the…”

“this amendment realigns responsibility for intelligence appropriations from the Appropriations Committee to the Intelligence Committee. This includes all funding relating to intelligence, national, joint military programs, and tactical military funding and classified intelligence matters as in FBI and other Government agencies. I think it would be a mistake to adopt this amendment. First, it ignores the history of the appropriations process and the lessons we have learned in both Houses of Congress. In 1865, the House created the Appropriations Committee. The Senate followed suit in 1867. Then from 1867 to 1885, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees were stripped of their control over appropriations as one authorization committee after another gained the authority to report appropriations. In 1885, both Houses realized this ad hoc approach was detrimental, and by 1922 both the House and Senate had reinvested appropriations authority back into one committee in each House. History has proven that moving appropriations to authorization committees creates a decentralized appropriations process that leads to greater spending and less accountability. That would be even more so today under the Budget Act.”