Dusty Johnson: “I rise today to make observations on two important points that have already been alluded to by my colleagues from South…”

“I rise today to make observations on two important points that have already been alluded to by my colleagues from South Dakota and Nevada during this session. One has to do with the need to resolve the issue of funding for committee staffing. One ordinarily would think this would be an administrative decision that would not be of enormous consequence, but the fact is, until that is resolved, this Senate is not able to go forward with legislation of any kind, much less to resolving the fiscal year 2003 appropriations issue involving 11 of the 13 appropriations bills remaining incomplete and needing work. These are bills that should have been concluded prior to October 1 of last year, and yet here we are now well into January with that work incomplete. I have some concerns about the size of the budget cuts--roughly $9 billion--that will be required, apparently, to come out of these 11 appropriations bills in order to accommodate President Bush and the Republican leadership budget baseline to which they have agreed. I look forward to offering amendments to moderate that for purposes of agriculture, veterans health care, and other areas. But we cannot go forward, in any way, until a resolution is reached.”