Burgess Owens: “I have been talking about the budget and appropriations process as being one of the most important things that has…”

“I have been talking about the budget and appropriations process as being one of the most important things that has happened in this Congress in the last 20 years. It is always important every session of Congress what we do with the budget and appropriations process. Nothing is more important than the budget and appropriations process. But in particular in a year when the Contract With America insists that we must balance the budget, and balancing the budget means making horrendous cuts of programs that have existed for the last 50 years, it is very important that we follow carefully this budget and appropriations process. We are now in a period where a great deal of stagnation has occurred. The first appropriations bills have gone to the White House, the appropriation for the actual budget of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the President has vetoed it because he wants to have that bill as a part of the bigger discussion. The other major appropriations bills are moving quite slowly and we have passed a continuing resolution.”