[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 17, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H3336-H3337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SPEND IT WISELY

  (Mr. DeLAY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. DeLAY. Madam Speaker, this week the House will uphold, for the 
216th time, its constitutionally mandated responsibility to begin the 
process of funding the Federal Government.
  The Founding Fathers understood the power of the purse and that that 
power of the purse was government's most potent, and therefore 
installed that power first and foremost in the body most accountable to 
the American people, the House of Representatives.
  In the 10 years Republicans have controlled the House appropriations 
process, we have fundamentally changed the way we spend the people's 
money.
  We have based this process on an entirely new question: no longer 
``How much can we spend?'' but ``How much should we spend?'' That may 
seem like a very small matter, but it has saved our government and our 
economy billions of dollars and millions of jobs over the last decade.
  The fiscal accountability our Republican majority instituted helped 
balance the budget in the late 1990s, helped ensure the recession of 
2001 was the shallowest in memory, and helped ensure our recovery from 
that recession and the 9/11 attacks was strong and durable.
  This week we will begin our second decade protecting the American 
people's money, and our first year with our streamlined Committee on 
Appropriations, by taking up the first two spending bills for the 2006 
fiscal year.
  First, the homeland security spending bill will provide the resources 
our

[[Page H3337]]

homeland security agencies need to do their work. And since September 
11, 2001, Congress has worked tirelessly with the administration to 
identify and address our national vulnerabilities, culminating with the 
creation of the new Department of Homeland Security.
  The fiscal year 2006 security appropriation will meet the needs of 
our first responders, make it harder for terrorists and criminals to 
pierce our borders, better prepare our Nation for emergencies, and help 
us stay one step ahead of our enemies.
  Second, we will provide for the 2006 budgets for the Department of 
the Interior and environment-related agencies.
  It makes sense these two bills will be the first we take up. After 
all, our homeland security agencies protect our people and our 
infrastructure while our interior agencies protect everything in 
between.
  For these and the rest of the fiscal year 2006 spending bills, Madam 
Speaker, the House will lead the way not only chronologically but 
responsibly. We will continue to build on the record we have 
established these last 10 years, making sure every dollar is put to its 
best use and making sure we only spend those dollars we must.
  For another appropriation season is upon us and we will spend it 
wisely.

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