Thomas Daschle: “I believe the appropriations process has fallen apart. This is a Frankenstein monster of a bill born of a badly broken…”

“I believe the appropriations process has fallen apart. This is a Frankenstein monster of a bill born of a badly broken process. It is time to send it back to the laboratory. At the beginning of the year, we were told the White House and the Senate Republican leadership would make sure the appropriations process ran more smoothly than ever before. In fact, the process broke down to an extent never seen before, opening the door to the worst kind of legislative abuses and special interest giveaways. This bill, this monstrosity, combines 7 appropriations bills, including 11 of 15 Cabinet-level Departments, comprising $820 billion in Government spending. To agree to a unanimous consent request this morning I believe would represent a shocking abrogation of our responsibilities to the people of this country. We have not finished until 2 rac{1}{2} months into the fiscal year. This was supposed to have been done on October 1. It is now early December. These delays are becoming regrettably common. But what makes this omnibus unique is its utter disregard for the expressed will of each House of Congress. The process was an abomination, closed largely to Democrats, hidden from the light of day, written to satisfy nothing more than special interest wish lists. It didn't have to be this way.”