Alan Simpson: “I thank the chairman for yielding, and let me thank you for all the hard work that you've done on this appropriation…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding, and let me thank you for all the hard work that you've done on this appropriation bill in bringing it to the floor. I know it's been a tough task. Mr. Speaker, the budget for fiscal year 2011 is now 6 months and 2 weeks overdue. It's time to finish this budget. Through this legislation, Chairman Rogers and the Appropriations Committee achieved what some thought would be impossible. We have succeeded in cutting $40 billion--that's $40 billion--from current spending levels. No other single bill in history has cut more spending. Think about that for just a minute. While the $40 billion reduction in spending--and it is $40 billion, contrary to some of the reports that have been out there that it is $300 and-some-odd million or something like this. This is $40 billion in real reductions in spending. While this is $40 billion, it is just a step. But it is a step in the right direction. We should also think about how the nature of this national conversation on spending has changed. For several years, we debated in Congress how much we were going to increase spending each year. Our debate today centers not on whether we should cut spending but how much spending should be cut. That is a sea change in the debate--both in Congress and in the Nation. And it's a change in the right direction. The Interior Subcommittee, which I am privileged to chair, has cut spending by 8.1 percent, or $2.62 billion below the FY10 enacted level.…”