Dusty Johnson: “I must say, I commend my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Byrd, for his suggestion that some of us come to the…”

“I must say, I commend my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Byrd, for his suggestion that some of us come to the floor today to talk a little bit about the process. Some people would say it is a procedural issue. It is far more profound than simply a procedural issue in the context of the way we have handled legislation on the Senate floor this year. The process that has been applied not only does, I believe, great damage to this institution, but, in the end, it has great consequence to the substance of our legislative priorities and certainly of the budget for our Nation. Two out of the 13 appropriations bills that are required to run the Federal Government have been passed. Eleven remain incomplete. October 1 is the beginning of the Federal fiscal year, and yet we have made little progress on the Federal budget. We have a CR, continuing resolution, that will take us to October 6. But, clearly, we are in a state of chaos right now relative to the completion of our work in the Senate. This year has been the shortest legislative session in the Senate since the 'do-nothing' Congress that President Truman campaigned against.”