Bill Lee: “I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding and, once again, for her tremendous leadership on so many issues as our…”

“I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding and, once again, for her tremendous leadership on so many issues as our ranking member. As a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Budget Committee, I rise in strong opposition to this continuing resolution. This bill kicks the can down the road for the fifth time--mind you, fifth time-- since October. It also shamelessly includes the stand-alone defense spending bill of $659 billion to an already out-of-control Pentagon budget. This bill breaks the budget caps. It includes $75 billion for wars that Congress has never debated or voted on. It also includes more than $1 billion in funds to increase troop levels in Afghanistan by 3,500, not to mention the millions--the billions, actually--in waste, fraud, and abuse that taxpayers have already lost by irresponsible Pentagon spending. This is outrageous. Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. The least they could do is keep the government open. Yet here we stand, once again, with no deal on DREAMers and no agreement on a long-term spending bill. Clearly, Republicans have no strategy on funding the government. They would prefer to pass CR after CR after CR after CR. This is beyond irresponsible, Mr. Speaker. How long will Republicans govern from crisis to crisis? Nobody can manage their household or their business like the Republicans are managing our government spending.…”