Trent Lott: “I have watched bills of this nature come and go over the years. Obviously, it is not the best way to do the job. On…”

“I have watched bills of this nature come and go over the years. Obviously, it is not the best way to do the job. On occasion--I remember back in 1996 and two or three times since I have been in the Senate--we actually completed all of our appropriations by the end of the fiscal year, and that is the way it ought to be done. In order to get that done, we have to start working on it in May, not June, not July, and not in the fall. Regular order is the way it should be done, and I am pleased to hear our two leaders say that is the way they intend to proceed this year. But for a variety of reasons, sometimes in spite of our best efforts, we don't often complete our work by the end of the fiscal year because it is quite difficult to get agreement as to what the figures will be in providing funds for the people's business in the Federal Government. And so we pass these continuing resolutions. They always bother me because they pull in a huge number of agencies, bureaus, departments, and money into one big pile, and it is very hard to know all that is going to go on as a result of that kind of procedure.”