On the recordApril 7, 2011
earlier today the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1363, a 1 week continuing resolution that will pay our troops and keep the government running. It is a pretty sad commentary on the willingness of the White House-- and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--to get serious about spending, that we have even arrived at this point. We need to be clear about a few things in this debate. First, we are here because Democrats did not do their job last year. Among the most basic responsibilities of Congress--in fact its core constitutional responsibility--is to take up and pass a budget and fund the core functions of the government for the year. Last year, Democrats had the majority in the House of Representatives. They had a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. And, of course, they had the White House. But they were so tied up with pressing matters like passing a $2.6 trillion health care bill that the American people did not want, that they never got around to passing a budget. And then in the fall, as the bottom fell out of public support for the Democrats, they were too interested in salvaging their majorities and trying to spin ObamaCare that they never funded the government. So that is why we are here. We are debating a spending bill for fiscal year 2011. It is April of 2011. Fiscal year 2011 started in October of last year. It is very simple.…
