David Hobson: “we would not be in this unfortunate situation if our colleagues in the Senate had actually passed their bill. The House…”

“we would not be in this unfortunate situation if our colleagues in the Senate had actually passed their bill. The House fulfilled its appropriation responsibilities; the other body did not. I have no problem with my majority colleague on the subcommittee, the distinguished chairman from Indiana. He has involved the minority in the process, treated us fairly, and attempted to protect our interests. Unfortunately, the ground rules established to this resolution disadvantage the House greatly in the negotiations with the Senate. The process adopted by the majority has undermined the ability of the subcommittee to negotiate a good CR and strip out Senate pork. There are a number of significant funding reductions that should have been taken in the CR that were not. Again, I have no fault with my chairman. He tried. But the Senate balked at even citing the need to protect 'important' Senators. Let me offer a few examples. The fiscal year 2004 omnibus appropriation included a $50 million earmark in the DOE's science account for an indoor rain forest alongside the interstate highway in Iowa, which I opposed, and so did my ranking member at the time, now the chairman. The Department of Energy has been unable to execute this earmark because the sponsor has not produced the necessary non-Federal matching funds. Nearly $45 million remains unspent and unspendable. The House proposed to rescind this earmark, but the Senate refused to consider it.”