Continuing Appropriations

CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS -- (Senate - February 12, 2007)

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I rise to talk about two issues today. First, I will talk about the continuing resolution that will be on the floor of the Senate that we will likely finish this week.

I know there is some consternation about the fact that a continuing resolution is being done, but there was no choice. We were left with an awful mess. This Congress was left with a mess where 10 appropriations bills were completed by the Senate Appropriations Committee but never brought to the floor of the Senate. They should have been done by October 1, signed by the President. We are now months into the new fiscal year, and those appropriations bills, done by the previous majority here in Congress, were not completed, and so we are left with a mess.

We have put together, as best we can, a continuing resolution. We have made some adjustments to that continuing resolution. Earmarks are gone. These are adjustments to avoid some catastrophic things that would have happened without adjustments.

I wish to mention with respect to the energy and water chapter of that resolution that we have done a number of things to try to preserve some funding for renewable energy. We have an energy issue that is very compelling in this country. We need to stimulate more renewable energy, so we are trying to keep the accounts which do that intact. We have tried to find the funding to preserve the Office of Science, which is the cutting-edge science that keeps us competitive in the world. That office would have had to lay off people had we not made some adjustments there. In the energy supply and conservation account, which is ongoing and very important, we have made some adjustments.

The fact is, we have tried to find a way to address the mess we were left. We are doing it the best way we can. I believe the best approach is to pass this continuing resolution. It is true there are no so-called earmarks or what is, in effect, legislative-directed spending. But it is also the case that adjustments have been made in a number of areas, including the energy and water accounts, that will try to remedy some of the otherwise very significant changes, in some cases catastrophic changes to the issues we care a lot about--energy independence, energy conservation, renewable energy, science, and so many other areas.

I am pleased to support this continuing resolution. I wish we were not doing it this way. If I had my druthers, we would have passed the appropriations bills last year on time. That did not happen. So we are now faced with this mess of fixing a mess that was created by last year's majority. We do not have a choice. We have to do that. The Government would shut down if the funding were not available for the agencies, so we have a responsibility, and we will meet that responsibility.

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