On the recordJuly 14, 2011
I have come to the floor to express my appreciation for the ranking member of the Budget Committee, Senator Sessions, and to express many of the same concerns I know he has articulated. One of the most basic responsibilities of any business or family or, frankly, of Congress itself is to pass a budget. But, as the Senator from Alabama pointed out--and it has been pointed out time and time again--Congress has failed for more than 800 days--800 days--to perform one of its most basic and fundamental responsibilities, and that is to take up and pass a budget. Even though we haven't passed a budget and taken up a budget, that doesn't mean the spending has stopped. Indeed, the spending goes on in a reckless sort of way. We have spent $7.3 trillion since the last budget was passed, and we have increased the national debt by $3.2 trillion. Now the Senate is considering a spending bill, an appropriations bill, before we have even passed a budget. It strikes me that is exactly backward. We should be passing and debating a budget first before we then take up appropriations bills. This is not the way Congress should operate. Now, taxpayers who might be watching this on C-SPAN or elsewhere or in the gallery may be asking themselves, well, how can Congress spend money without having a budget in place, because we know a budget is a very important form of self-discipline. It requires us to identify what our priorities are. What are the things we have to spend money on?…
