Richard Hudson: “I rise this evening to offer an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would prohibit the funding…”

“I rise this evening to offer an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would prohibit the funding for any program included that is not authorized by law. For far too long, Congress has continued to appropriate spending on government programs with little to no oversight. Our country has essentially been on autopilot towards a cliff of fiscal and economic disaster. {time} 1930 This has resulted in a massive and out-of-control bureaucracy that is wasteful and inefficient. In this bill alone there are 23 unauthorized programs. Some of these programs were last authorized in 1981, and there are others that have never been authorized. In total, these unauthorized and unchecked programs in this legislation receive around $25 billion. With over $17 trillion in debt, we owe it to our constituents to review each agency and program to determine if they are the best use of taxpayer dollars to serve the public need. Additionally, the rules of the House require that appropriations may only be made for purposes authorized by law. The prohibition on unauthorized appropriations cannot be enforced because the rules that bring appropriation bills to the floor routinely prevent a point of order from being raised. My amendment prohibits spending on unauthorized programs, but it exempts defense-related programs because these were authorized by the House when we passed the defense authorization bill in May. This amendment parallels with my bill, H.R.…”