Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendments to H.R. 4899 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010

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Mr. BOEHNER. I want to thank my colleague for yielding and say to my colleagues that the President, on February 1, sent up a supplemental spending request to fund our activities for our troops and the State Department in Afghanistan. For 5 months, this Chamber has wallowed around trying to find a way to bring this bill to the floor. And look how we've done it.

We have a rule that provides for the consideration of the supplemental that self-executes a lot of wasteful spending here in Washington right into the rule itself. But if that isn't bad enough, there are four amendments made in order. If any of those amendments were to fail, it's as if the House has not even considered the bill. It's as though this debate that we're having right now had never even happened.

How could such a rule providing for the consideration of an important supplemental spending bill have in there this escape clause that if we don't get our way on all of these amendments, then this really didn't happen? This is supposed to be the greatest legislative body in the history of the world and we're treating it like a bunch of kids in a sandbox. I, frankly, think it's disgraceful.

Beyond what the rule does in terms of the consideration of the bill, it also deems the appropriation process to begin. And it outlines a number. We've tried for several months to pass a budget here in the House. But the budget resolution never reached the floor. There was never a debate and never an effort to actually come to grips with a fiscal crisis that's facing our country. And yet what are we going to do? We're going to authorize over a trillion dollars worth of new spending. No debate how to save money, no debate about the crisis that we're facing. We're just going to keep the spending spree alive.

This scheme-and-deem process that's included in this rule should be another reason that Members ought to think twice before they vote for this budget and vote for this rule. But I've got to tell you the worst thing that's going on here is that the Secretary of Defense has asked for this money prior to July 4th because our troops in Afghanistan need the resources in order to succeed in their mission. Not only are we trying to pile all of this new spending on the backs of our troops, the fact is that if this rule were to pass, it guarantees that this bill will not get to the President before July 4th. If this rule passes, which self-executes all of this extra spending into it, it will automatically have to go to the United States Senate, where how long it will be there, who knows. But all I can say is that the troops that are out there fighting for the defense of our country, trying to preserve the security for our country for today and tomorrow, are going to be left wanting because of the political chicanery that's going on here in this House. I think this is disgraceful. I really do.

I promised the President 2 months ago that if they brought a clean supplemental spending bill to the floor of the House, I and my Republican colleagues would be there to help the President pass it. He heard me loud and clear. He looked at the Senate Republican leader and said, Well, what do you think about this? He said, I'm with BOEHNER.

We promised the President we would help pass this bill. But, no, there was never any reaching out, never any working together to try to make sure that our troops had what they needed in a timely fashion. No, the only way we can bring this bill up was to load it up with tens of billions of dollars of new spending--just more stimulus spending that hasn't worked over the last year and a half, and this additional spending is just going to be thrown on the backs of our kids and grandkids.

Mr. Speaker, I think our colleagues tonight should do the right thing. I think they should stand up and say ``no'' to this rule. Let's say ``yes'' to a fairer process and to a process that will get our troops the funds that they need in a timely fashion, which is now. If we defeat this rule, you can bet that the supplemental spending bill, without all these other add-ons, will be on the floor of this house. And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I and my Republican colleagues will gladly vote for a clean supplemental to support our troops.

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