Virginia Foxx: “President Ronald Reagan once said: No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So government's programs, once…”

“President Ronald Reagan once said: No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So government's programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this Earth. Mr. Chairman, it's hard to argue with the Gipper. This amendment to H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management, FARRM, Act of 2013, will bring accountability to our work here in the House of Representatives. What it does is it sunsets discretionary programs in this bill upon the expiration of the 5-year authorization period. Now, some people might think that is the normal thing to happen in the Federal Government: you authorize a program; once the authorization goes away, the program either gets reauthorized or it goes away. But that isn't what happens, Mr. Chairman. The purpose of this program is to force Congress to justify the continued existence of these programs through regular reauthorization efforts. Mr. Chairman, it forces us to do our jobs. If these programs and subsidies are left unchallenged, they will continue to consume taxpayer dollars forever without being approved explicitly by the Members of Congress. As our national debt approaches $17 trillion, we can't afford to put all these programs on autopilot.…”