Political Quotes

“House Resolution 697 provides for an open rule providing for consideration of two bills, H.R. 5973, which is a bill making appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies, and H.R. 5972, the fiscal year 2013 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are offering yet another open rule, something that our liberal Democrat colleagues gleefully denied this House when they held the gavel. Once again, House Republicans continue our commitment to an open appropriations process in which all Members from both parties have an opportunity to influence the final legislative product. In fact, this rule represents the eleventh open rule the Rules Committee has reported to the House thus far in the 112th Congress, which is in stark contrast to the 111th, in which the House considered a grand total of zero open rules. I want to thank my colleagues from the Appropriations Committee for their leadership and hard work in producing the two bills referenced in this rule. H.R. 5973 includes $19.4 billion in discretionary funding, which represents a cut of $365 million below last year's level. H.R. 5972 provides a total of $51.6 billion in discretionary spending for the departments and agencies funded in the bill for fiscal 2013, which is a level representing $3.9 billion below last year's level.…”