John Spratt: “Mr. Chairman, I am for spending more on highways and mass transit, but we have a process for deciding how much more and…”

“Mr. Chairman, I am for spending more on highways and mass transit, but we have a process for deciding how much more and which priorities we will pare back or preclude to make room for more spending on highways so that we can keep the budget in balance. The purpose of this amendment is basic and simple. It is just to let this process work. What it calls for is regular order, nothing more. Let us pass a budget resolution. Let us go through the 302(B) allocation process. Let us identify $26 billion in offsets, or whatever the amount may be, and then let us come back to this floor and pass this bill. Mr. Chairman, I feel compelled to offer this amendment because I am the ranking member of the Committee on the Budget, and this bill does not just skirt or evade the budget process, it is a frontal assault upon it. It violates the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997, which we only voted for a few months ago, and trumpeted by all of us who voted for it, by authorizing $40 billion more for contracting authority than the BBA provides and $26 billion in outlays over the next 5 years above and beyond the BBA. Mr. Chairman, it radically departs from the appropriations process by letting the transportation conferees decide some $26 billion in offsets to pay for their increases. All of these offsets are outside their jurisdiction. It violates the Congressional Budget Act by being brought to the floor ahead of the budget resolution.”