On the recordMay 25, 2016
I commend the gentlewoman for her consistency. She always has these amendments to cut 1 percent across the board out of the appropriations bills, and I appreciate her consistent work to protect the taxpayer dollars, but this is an approach that, frankly, I can't support. While the President may have proposed a budget that exceeds this bill, the increases were paid for with proposals and gimmicks that would never be enacted. This bill makes the tough choices within an allocation that adheres to current law. You may not agree with current law, but it is the current law, and that is what we had to go with. Since there wasn't a budget resolution passed, what we ended up with is current law; and that is the allocation that we have, and that is what we stayed within. I don't think the Appropriations Committee gets enough credit over the last several years for the work we have been doing in reducing Federal spending. If you look at the total Federal budget and the amount of discretionary spending and mandatory spending, at one time it was about two-thirds discretionary spending and one-third mandatory spending 30 or 40 years ago. Then, about 5 years ago, it was one-third discretionary spending and two-thirds mandatory spending. That is Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security entitlements. Since we have taken control the last 5 years, that one-third of the budget that is discretionary spending is about 28 percent now.…
