Don Nickles: “I will make a couple of comments concerning the budget and the appropriations process. A couple of days ago we heard the…”

“I will make a couple of comments concerning the budget and the appropriations process. A couple of days ago we heard the majority leader being very critical of the President, talking about his lack of working with Congress and it is his fault we have a budget deficit. Earlier today, we heard the chairman of the Appropriations Committee being critical of the President. It looks like a lot of people are throwing rocks at the White House. Maybe that is the easy thing to do, but we should be looking internally and saying: What have we done? We have not passed a budget, and because we have not passed a budget for the first time since the Budget Act was passed in 1974, we do not have a budget that has the same figures with the House. Every other year--and I have been in the Senate for 22 years--we have always had a budget. Basically, the House and the Senate agree on numbers and then we pass appropriations bills. Every year we have been able to do that, except for this year. We have less than a week to go. Next Monday the fiscal year expires, and we have passed 3 out of 13 appropriations bills. That is probably the worst record in Senate history--certainly since the Budget Act passed. Shame on us. And then to say it is the administration's fault or it is the House's fault--I heard somebody say it is the House's fault because the House has not passed very many. That is not our constitutional responsibility. Our responsibility is to pass our bills.…”