Maurice Hinchey: “I want to pay tribute to the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and the purposeful way in which the…”

“I want to pay tribute to the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and the purposeful way in which the appropriations process has proceeded under his leadership. But it is also true that this motion to instruct draws our attention to some very serious deficiencies in the budgetary process which are becoming more obvious with the passage of every day. The White House today tells us that the anticipated budget surplus of $200 billion for the year is down very, very substantially, by more than $30 billion, more than 15 percent. It is very likely that if disaster strikes from natural causes or if we have an invasion of foreign animal disease strike our shores, that we will respond appropriately with the necessary funds. But the question arises where are those funds going to come from if we do not budget for them in the first instance. Increasingly one is driven to conclude that the answer to that question is going to be from places like the Medicare Trust Fund initially and perhaps even the Social Security Trust Fund if that becomes necessary. That is why this motion to instruct is very appropriate. Every Member of this House ought to give it their very careful consideration. We are not being honest in the way we are dealing with the people's money here. We are living in a time of budget surpluses, but those surpluses are going down day after day, week after week.”