On the recordApril 1, 2011
I thank my colleague from Georgia. Madam Speaker, the House of Representatives is attempting to prevent the government from shutting down. We have to do so because the Senate, under the leadership of Senator Harry Reid, hasn't passed a bill to fund the government for the remainder of the year. It has now been 41 days since the House passed our bill, H.R. 1. The lack of Senate action certainly isn't because they haven't had the time. Since the passage of H.R. 1, the Senate has had time to pass legislation like the bill designating March 11 as World Plumbing Day. Senator Reid's excuse for not passing the bill: House Republicans passed ``extreme'' spending cuts. Despite the $61 billion in spending cuts in H.R. 1 being the largest spending cut since World War II, it amounts to approximately a 2 percent cut of what the CBO projects the Federal Government will spend in 2011. {time} 1030 That's cutting spending by approximately 2 cents for every dollar we are projected to spend. Given that the Federal Government is borrowing approximately 40 cents out of every dollar we spend and sending the bill to our children and grandchildren, cutting 2 cents out of every dollar hardly seems extreme or excessive. The only thing that is extreme and excessive is the desire of Washington liberals to spend the hard-earned money of the American people on the Federal Government's priority, leaving the American people unable to spend on their priorities.
