Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

Mr. REHBERG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Madam Speaker, there is no phrase that better embodies the fact that something here in Washington is broken than ``government shutdown.'' Yesterday we heard those words for the second time in a year, and that tells us the old ways of doing things simply don't work anymore. It's time for a new direction.

Every month we're faced with new unemployment numbers, new market losses, and new deficit figures. We can never forget that behind those numbers are people. Unemployment isn't just a number; it's people who worry about how they will fill their gas tanks or put food on their table.

Market losses aren't just lines on a graph; it's the retirement savings of seniors across the country who struggle to afford medicine they need. And deficit isn't just borrowed money; it's the future being stolen from our children and our grandchildren.

As subcommittee chairman of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations, I support this continuing resolution. Not only does it prevent a government shutdown, it gives us time to finish working on the remaining appropriations bills in an open and transparent way.

I look forward to my subcommittee introducing and debating their work. Let me tell you a little bit about it. As we've been crafting this bill, I've worked closely with you, Members of this body, and listened to folks from Montana and throughout the country. We want it to be a balanced plan that fundamentally improves how the government spends its money, the hardworking money of taxpayers.

We want to make government more accountable and efficient, saving as much as possible on top of the savings from earlier this year. In addition to eliminating inefficient programs, we'll improve the remaining government by defunding enforcement of unnecessary and overreaching regulations. These regulations cost jobs and hamper economic recovery.

By spending strategically, we can maintain critical funding for things like education and biomedical research. To be successful in tomorrow's economy, our children need to be prepared for the skilled jobs that are going unfilled today. We also need to invest in basic research so the U.S. can continue to be a leader in biomedical advancements. Our subcommittee wants to do that.

Our legislation will keep the promise we made to rein in government spending and government growth. It's the next step, not the final one. We still have a long way to go, but by finding ways to do more with less, we are changing the direction in Washington. That's what the American people want, and I'm confident that by passing this continuing resolution it will give us the time to do it in the open and do it right.

With that, I hope you'll vote for this continuing resolution.

Source