[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9742-S9743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. THOMPSON:
  S. 2049. A bill to reform the budget and oversight processes of the 
Congress; to the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs, jointly, pursuant to the order of August 4, 1977, 
with instructions that if one committee reports, the other committee 
have thirty days to report or be discharged.


          the budget process and oversight reform act of 1996

 Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, today, I am introducing 
legislation designed to improve the way Congress conducts its business. 
This legislation, entitled the ``Budget Process and Oversight Reform 
Act of 1996,'' would create a 2-year budget process, and provide 
designated times for Congress to conduct oversight and work in their 
home States or districts.
  As anyone who has followed Congress over the years knows, the changes 
proposed in this legislation are not new. However, in the past, 
proposals to create a 2-year budget and move toward a citizen 
legislature have languished in Congress.
   Mr. President, I will do everything in my power to assure that these 
proposals get the most thorough consideration. In fact, I have already 
begun the process of reviewing them in Congress. In late July, the 
Governmental Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Management 
and Accountability, which I chair, held a hearing that began creating 
the record for legislative action that I hope will occur early in the 
next Congress.
  Surely, after our experience with the budget process over the last 
year and a half, most in Congress would agree that biennial budgeting 
is an idea whose time has finally come. Since I came to Congress, I 
have spent an unusually high percentage of my time considering matters 
related to the budget. No sooner did we finish working on the fiscal 
1996 budget, then we had to start work on the budget for fiscal year 
1997.
  Although I believe that a biennial budget will prevent recent history 
from being repeated, I do not believe that it is a panacea for all of 
our budget problems. It cannot bring the budget into balance--Members 
of the Senate and House, along with the President of the United States, 
must still make the tough choices to bring that about. And, it will not 
automatically solve the serious problems posed by the increased demand 
on entitlement programs as the next generation begins to retire.
  What a biennial budget can do is to give us time for the important 
tasks that often get short shrift these days, such as conducting 
oversight and long-range planning, and spending more time at home. The 
legislation that I am introducing today will ensure that time for 
oversight and work at home is set aside.
   Mr. President, let me briefly summarize the specifics of that 
legislation.
  First, the bill would create a 2-year budget process, and would 
require Congress to complete action on the budget by September 30 of 
the first session. If Congress misses that legal

[[Page S9743]]

deadline, absent a national emergency, Members would not be paid.
  In addition, the legislation would require Congress to perform 
oversight of the executive branch during the second year of the 
Congressional session.
  Finally, the bill would require Congress to adjourn by July 31 of the 
second session. If Congress missed that legal deadline--again, absent a 
national emergency--Members would not be paid.
   Mr. President, I would like to explain how this legislation came 
about. Ever since I began campaigning for the Senate, I have expressed 
the view that we need to cut the pay of Members of Congress and send 
them home. This, too, is not a new idea. It was first advocated by 
former majority leader Howard Baker and reproposed by Governor Lamar 
Alexander during his Presidential campaign.
  The legislation I just described is the very first step in that 
direction. It shortens the amount of time that Members must devote to 
the budget process. However, in return, Members must spend more time 
overseeing the activities of the Federal Government and more time at 
home--either working with their constituents or pursuing the work that 
they engaged in before they came to Congress. I believe that these 
steps will help us re-create the citizen legislature that existed much 
earlier in this country's history.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on these and other ideas 
to make Congress more responsive and efficient.
                                 ______