Frank Pallone: “the Republicans are about to take up a CR that keeps the government going until January 11. What they are not saying is…”

“the Republicans are about to take up a CR that keeps the government going until January 11. What they are not saying is that they are abdicating their responsibility to govern. The Republican leadership in Congress has achieved one of the worst legislative breakdowns in the Nation's history. Of the 13 fiscal year 2003 appropriations bills, Congress will complete before the end of this session only Defense and Military Construction. Everything else is being carried over until the next year. A review of the past half century of legislative calendars shows nothing close to such nonfeasance. Even in 2000 when Congress approved 21 continuing resolutions before completing its work December 15, the House at least had passed each of the 13 appropriations bills. What is happening now is we are simply abdicating our responsibility. The Republicans do not want to do anything. They simply want to wait until the new session of Congress. But the fact of the matter is that we have a responsibility to pass the budget, to pass the appropriations bills, to deal with them now, and to work between now in November as well as in December, not simply wait until the next session of Congress to address all of these issues.”