Political Quotes

“The proposed rescission of 7.5 percent from the enacted level for fiscal 1994, if confined to the agencies funded in the legislative branch appropriations bill, would total $172.7 million. This reduction, which would be in addition to those already imposed on the legislative branch for fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994, would be devastating to the Congress, its support agencies, and the other institutions of the legislative branch. The Kerrey and others plan also calls for a freeze in so-called overhead expenditures--rent, communications, printing, and supplies, a 15 percent reduction in all travel accounts in the legislative branch and a 5 percent pay cut for Members of Congress and senior executive and congressional officials. The combined impact of these proposals would place the constitutional independence and authority of the Congress in serious jeopardy. Nowhere is the maxim, ``knowledge is power'' more valid than in the legislative process of today. The policy environment we face daily is characterized by great complexity, interdependence, and rapid change. This makes reliable knowledge and analysis absolutely indispensable. The functions of the institutions making up the legislative branch--with minor exceptions--focus on meeting this requirement. Draconian, meat ax cuts of the sort envisioned in the Kerrey plan cannot eliminate this requirement. They will however change the way it is satisfied to the detriment of the independence of congressional decisionmaking.”