Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I want to thank the distinguished Senator from Iowa for his remarks and also his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. I found his remarks very interesting.

I note that the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is now on the floor. I have been very fortunate to serve as his ranking member, and I think that we have put a very good bill together and that his leadership has been very strong.

Last week Senator Alexander brought to the floor a chart, and on that chart there were red and blue lines, and they depicted a lot about the spending patterns of this Nation, which absolutely is relevant, considering we are talking about spending. Well, I wanted to put my rendition before us since no one on the floor is asking to speak at this time.

Since 2006 I have asked my staff to put together some charts on spending, which I share every week at my constituent breakfast with the constituency from California.

I want to tell you a little bit about this chart. The source of this chart is the Congressional Budget Office, and it is the budget and economic outlook part of that. Going back to 2006, we looked at budget numbers, but the actual way to look at it is really outlays. What does the Federal Government spend every year? That is the number which creates the debt and creates interest on the debt.

In 2006 the Federal Government spent $2.654 trillion in total. Here is how it was spent: This big red part is what are called entitlements. These are mandatory payments to programs to which an individual is entitled. If you are entitled to it, you get it regardless of what impact it has on the budget. They were 53 percent of what the Federal Government spent in 2006, and interest on the debt was 8 percent. So if we add 53 percent and 8 percent, that was about 61 percent of everything that was spent during that year. Nondefense discretionary was 19 percent and defense was 20 percent. So the green and the blue were the discretionary programs, the yellow was interest on the debt, and the rest were entitlements.

This year the total outlay is $3.919 trillion. Entitlements have gone up to 63 percent of what the Federal Government will pay out this year. Interest on the debt has dropped 2 percent to 6.5 percent, largely because interest rates are low. Defense discretionary is 15 percent, and nondefense discretionary is 15.5 percent. So if we put these two things together, which we are now passing appropriations bills on, they comprise only about 30.5 percent of what the Federal Government will spend this year. The rest is entitlements and interest on the debt.

If you are entitled to Social Security, you get it. If you are entitled to Medicare, you get it. If you are entitled to Medicaid; disabled; women, infants, and children; and a whole host of very good programs because they help people--but they are expensive and they cost. This isn't often talked about, and I think it is not talked about because individuals don't want to worry people. But it is a problem, and it is a problem that needs some solutions.

If you project these numbers 10 years forward to 2026, we go from total outlays, total government payments in 2016 of $3.9 trillion, to $6.401 trillion, and entitlements are then 65 percent of what the government will spend in the year 2026. Interest on the debt will double from what it is today to 13 percent because it is estimated that interest rates will go up. So, adding the two together, you see that we are well over 70 percent in spending. If we look at discretionary spending, defense discretionary and nondefense discretionary, we will see they are both 11 percent. That is the economic outlook.

So only 22 percent of the budget will be what the Appropriations Committee will be doing in 10 years from now because the rest of it will not be able to be controlled. So we have a constantly escalating picture.

In my own view, those things like the Army Corps of Engineers, which in a sense is the only infrastructure program this country really has outside of the highway program, will be compressed more, and everything we spend to make this a better country will be compressed more because of the growth in entitlements and interest on the debt.

Well, I believe the time has come for Members on both sides of the aisle to sit down and see what we can do to work out solutions to this ever-growing problem. Is it additional taxes? Are there ways we can change these programs so that they become more efficient to cover people and pay for them in a better way than putting them on the debt, which is effectively what we are doing?

So I want to state to our distinguished chairman, who is now here, last week we had his red and blue lines, so this week I brought my charts that I have been using since 2006, and I believe the numbers are correct, and I believe they are also astonishing and they need our concern.

I would like to work with the chairman in the future, and perhaps we could bring together Republicans and Democrats to sit down and consider some remedies that will not be punishing for people but will bring this huge red mark and thereby the interest mark into better control than today.
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Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Murray, I call up Murray amendment No. 3813 and ask unanimous consent that it be reported by number.

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Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, is it appropriate for me to speak on the Murray amendment?

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Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I say to the body that I support this amendment. The Murray amendment would reinforce ``Buy American'' provisions that have been in place for decades. These provisions say that when American tax dollars are being spent, the preference should be to buy American products.

Despite current Federal regulations, there are concerns that the Corps of Engineers is circumventing these ``Buy American'' provisions and acquiring welded shipboard anchor and mooring chain manufactured by foreign sources. The Murray amendment simply reiterates current requirements to support American-made products, echoing language from our colleagues in the House and the 2016 appropriations bill.

The amendment is good for families and workers across the country, and I urge this body to support it.

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