Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by thanking the committee for the hard work that they have put into this bill and for the way the House has approved reducing our budget over the last several years. If every department of the Federal Government were to be as active as we were in reducing our spending, our budget would be in better shape.
This bill provides a net total of $3.482 billion in fiscal year 2017 base discretionary budget authority. That is $153 million below the President's budget request, $73 million above the enacted 2016 level, and $140 million above the level proposed by the Appropriations Committee for fiscal year 2016.
However, I think there is more work that needs to be done. And thus, as I do for most of our appropriations bills, I am here with my 1 percent across-the-board spending reduction amendment.
It would reduce discretionary budget authority by $31 million and outlays by $28 million. It exempts the Capitol Police, the Architect of the Capitol, Capitol Police Buildings, Grounds and Security, and the Sergeant at Arms.
I am certainly aware that there is opposition to doing the penny-on- a-dollar cut. I have heard many times that cuts like this are damaging and we shouldn't do them, but I think that cutting an extra penny on every dollar not only goes to putting us on a better track, it helps to preserve our Nation's sovereignty for future generations.
When we have $19.2 trillion in debt, our constituents are saying: What are you going to do about this?
Well, here is an action that we can take: making a penny-on-a-dollar cut and saving ourselves some more money--$31 million--that will help to send the right message that, again, we are going to cut a little bit more, just as the families in our districts are doing.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, I will have to say that people do like across-the-board cuts. Indeed, many governors, Republican and Democrat alike, use these. From coast-to-coast, they have used these. And our constituents like them.
Take a look at the December 2012 POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll. It shows 75 percent approve of them. January 2013, The Hill, 6-in-10 approve. Look at what happened in Oklahoma in December: a 3 percent across-the-board cut. In March, they did a 4 percent across-the-board cut.
Why is it that our governors do these?
They work. Department heads like to be able to go in there and find a way to cut a little bit more in that budget and still meet the needs that the people have said they want to see their government meet.
We have $19.3 trillion in debt. We are working to get the cost of government down, but we have to do a little bit more. This is a way to engage rank-and-file Federal employees and to say to them: It is time for us to get our fiscal house in order.
A penny on the dollar is what our constituents are doing. We should do likewise. It is what our States are doing, because they can't crank the printing press. They can't go borrow money. They can't have more of our debt that is owned by China and Japan and OPEC and the entities that own our debt. They have to have balanced budget amendments. When I was in the Tennessee State Senate, we didn't go home until we had the budget in balance.
So I would encourage support of this amendment. It is a penny out of a dollar. It is another $31 million in savings.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, the American people think they have taken hit after hit. And they have taken it right in the wallet. They are sick and tired of this. They feel like this economy has taken a meat-ax approach to their well-being. What they want to see is leadership that will work to get our spending habits under control here in Washington.
This is a great opportunity to lead by example and to say: A penny on the dollar, we are going to do it for the children and for future generations.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source