The Nation's Broken Budget

Floor Speech

Mr. RIBBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss our Nation's broken budget process and ways we can begin to fix it.

The government shutdown is caused by the broken budget process. Funding our government with continuing resolutions is caused by a broken budget process. If we fix this, we could get away from this type of management of the taxpayer dollars.

Every year, Congress is required by law to pass a budget resolution. Every year, it is required to pass 12 appropriation bills by October 1, the start of the fiscal year. Yet, since 2001, Congress has managed to enact only 8.3 percent of our required appropriation bills on time. In the past 8 election years, Congress has failed to pass a budget resolution a full 75 percent of the time.

The Washington Post recently did an article about this process. It showed that this broken process allows Federal departments and agencies to develop a use-it-or-lose-it mentality. A full 20 percent of all Federal spending and contracting happens in the last month of the fiscal year. Look at how it spikes. It is not just one time. It did it in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The spending happens in the last month of the year and, in particular, the very last week of the year. This is true about contracting, as well. There were 156,000 contracts, 154,000 contracts, 149,000 contracts all done in the last few weeks of each budget year.

This use-it-or-lose-it mentality is costing the taxpayers millions of dollars. We must begin to fix this broken process, and that is why I have introduced the Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act of 2013. Overnight, it would cut this in half.

A biennial budgeting system, like the one my legislation creates, allows Congress to set budget and spending priorities in the first year and then do real oversight in the second year. This will allow Congress to better understand how the Federal Government is spending taxpayer money and be better equipped to make spending decisions in the future.

This biennial budgeting process has strong bipartisan support with 110 cosponsors so far. They range from the most progressive Member of Congress to the most conservative, painting a broad picture of support from Members of Congress and the Americans that they represent.

Here is a list of groups within Congress that have multiple Members supporting the legislation: the House Budget Committee, the Republican Study Committee, the Tuesday Group, the Blue Dog Democrats, the New Democratic Coalition, the Progressive Caucus, a broad cross-section of the Congress and the people that they are here to represent.

Not only that, every President since Ronald Reagan has supported biennial budgeting. Here is a quote from Jack Lew, the former OMB Director and White House Chief of Staff, our Nation's current Secretary of the Treasury:

The 2-year system is a good idea. The 1-year budget process gives both the administration and Congress little time to focus on implementing the programs.

It is time that we begin to address the serious nature of not managing the taxpayer dollars in following the requirements of the law. We need to fix this broken process this year. It is time to do it.

Mr. Speaker, if the past few months have taught us anything, it is that our current budget process isn't working. It is time to create a system that will help us budget responsibly, foster greater certainty in the U.S. economy, and save taxpayer dollars. We can do it in bipartisan fashion.

I urge all Members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 1869 today and help us govern again.

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