Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Floor Speech

OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2009 -- (House of Representatives - February 25, 2009)

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Mr. POSEY. Mr. Speaker, the Omnibus Appropriations bill before us today provides an 8 percent increase for dozens of federal agencies and departments. These tens of billions of dollars in additional spending are in addition to hundreds of billions of dollars just signed into law by the President last week as a part of the ``stimulus'' bill. Taken together, this amounts to nearly an 80 percent increase in funding for many of the agencies funded in the Omnibus Appropriations bill. Put another way, spending for these agencies will increase from $378 billion in 2008 to nearly $680 billion in 2009. And, all of this increase is ``paid for'' with borrowed money that our children and grandchildren will have to repay. This amounts to generational theft.

Simply put, the American worker isn't getting an 8 percent pay increase each year much less an 80 percent pay increase, and they cannot afford to pay for such expansive government spending.

Are there good provisions in this bill? Yes. Are the objectionable provisions in this bill? Yes. Sadly, no Member of Congress was permitted to offer an amendment to this bill, much less a sufficient amount of time to actually read the bill. The House leadership, which sets the rules of debate, has prohibited any Member of Congress from offering a single amendment. No member of Congress is permitted to rise and ask that even one of the more than 8,000 earmarks in this bill be stricken from the bill.

In just the past four weeks, this Congress has approved over one and one-half trillion dollars in new spending--most of it borrowed money. Sadly, not a single amendment has been permitted to be offered. The Congress is broken and the American people deserve better. We will never get this nation back on track if this Congress continues to consider and approve only legislation written in back rooms at the last minute by only a handful of leaders in the majority. That's not what the American people elected us to do. It is long past due that the legislative process be allowed to work and that all Members of this Congress be afforded the opportunity to truly represent their constituents. True bipartisanship means allowing input from both sides not simply take or leave it dictates.

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