On the recordJuly 9, 2013
Our bill had many competing priorities with a low allocation, and I appreciate my colleague's commitment to finding more savings in the bill. He is ever persistent, and I salute his willingness to challenge us each year on the floor when we do this energy and water bill, and we are not the only bill where he makes these challenges. However, the Department Administration account in our recommendation was already suffering a $49 million cut from last year's level. Earlier amendments that we did this afternoon and this evening have taken another $60 million. There is not a lot of money left to run the department. While some may want to close down the department, the department has some pretty incredible responsibilities in terms of nuclear safety and national defense and things that relate to cleanups and things of this nature. If they had to respond--if you will pardon the expression--to some of the emergencies that we might have as a Nation, and we know our deficit is an emergency situation, they might not be able to respond on our behalf. Therefore, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
