Pete Domenici: “Mr. President, in this budget resolution, there are discretionary appropriations for the Defense Department and…”

“Mr. President, in this budget resolution, there are discretionary appropriations for the Defense Department and discretionary appropriations for all of the rest of Government, the domestic portion of our Government. When I say discretionary appropriations, what I am talking about is program authority that must be passed upon and enacted every year. That is the way the current law is. So if you appropriate $286 billion for the defense of our country, it is for 1 year. Come the next year, you have to appropriate again. Likewise, in the 10 predominantly domestic discretionary appropriations bills, whether it is the Treasury-Postal bill, the energy and water bill, the Labor, Health and Human Services bill, this is a 1-year appropriation of money. It lasts for 1 year. It must be passed every year. Without it, there is no money to spend for any of those programs and activities.”