Steven Holt: “I am voting for the funding bill before us today but not without deep reservations. Each of the appropriations…”

“I am voting for the funding bill before us today but not without deep reservations. Each of the appropriations subcommittees considered bills for Fiscal Year 2011, but only two were brought to the floor for a vote. All twelve appropriations bills deserved a vote by the full House. Instead, we are freezing spending levels across the board and carrying forward most of the spending decisions made last year without a full and fair debate on the consequences for today's economy and today's needs. Surely this action does not live up to the responsibility that our constituents have entrusted to us. The results of our failure to fully weigh the tradeoffs of our spending choices are not inconsequential. Even though serious questions remain about the effectiveness and safety of full body imaging devices, this bill increases funding for the Transportation Security Administration to procure, deploy, and staff new full body scanners in America's airports. To keep spending levels constant, the bill unilaterally ends funding for certain election reform programs, reduces funding for high speed rail, and forces the Department of Energy to raid funding for renewable energy and basic science programs in order to pay for the Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy. This one-year funding bill freezes the pay of our dedicated public servants for two years even though non-military federal worker salaries did not create our deficit and a freeze will not solve our budget problems.”