On the recordJuly 21, 2011
I rise in opposition to this amendment. I respect very much the gentleman from Georgia's efforts on cutting and shrinking the size of government, but the Joint Economic Committee is already under the appropriations recommendation operating below the 2006 level. So it is doing more than its share of shrinking and running efficiently. Unlike other committees, the Joint Economic Committee is created by law to be the counterpart for a Congress to weigh against the President's Council of Economic Advisers. It is bicameral. It is bipartisan. It provides information important to the size of government, the efficiency of government, and what can get our economy going. An example of the research is the 4 months, weekends, evenings, that was done going through every page and provision of the new 2,801- page health care law and identifying all of the new bureaucracies, agencies, and taxes that will be in between you and your doctor. That research could not be done otherwise. And I want to tell you, our Democrat friends will tell you that it provides the same type of analysis for their issues. This is the type of information that Congress needs as we move forward on the critical issues of the economy. This committee has done its share of cuts, and I respectfully oppose this amendment.
