[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 132 (Tuesday, December 5, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11162-S11163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          2007 APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise to address my serious concern 
about our movement toward a decision to adjourn the 109th Congress 
without completing our work on the remaining 2007 appropriations bills 
and to recognize, also, my friend and senior Senator from the State of 
Ohio, Mr. Mike DeWine.
  As my colleagues are well aware, the fiscal year 2006 appropriations 
expired on September 30, 2006. And with the exception of the 
Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, the Federal Government is 
currently operating on its second temporary continuing resolution, set 
to expire on December 8, 2006. We now intend to enact a third 
continuing resolution to fund the Government into February 2007.
  Passage of a long-term continuing resolution, as some have advocated, 
means the Federal Government will work without a budget for at least 5 
months into the current fiscal year, without knowing what spending 
levels will be approved for discretionary programs. Federal Departments 
and agencies will be forced to oversee programs and manage employees 
without knowing whether they are overspending their fiscal year 2007 
budgets.
  This approach toward managing our Nation's checkbook is indicative of 
Congress's attitude toward fiscal discipline and is a serious problem. 
Other Senators have spoken about how serious the problems are. And 
Senator Byrd did a very good job of outlining the serious impact that 
our not passing our appropriations on time is going to have on some of 
our Departments in the Federal Government. And earlier, Senator Specter 
did the same thing. We are aware of the problems it is going to create 
for the management of our Government.

  Operating without a budget impacts our effectiveness in fighting the 
war on terror. It affects our ability to maintain and improve our 
transportation infrastructure and enhance our educational system. And 
it further contributes to the public perception that Congress has no 
appreciation of the importance of good management and the importance of 
hiring the right people with the right knowledge and skills at the 
right time and at the right place.
  This is not a good record for either side of the aisle. And with due 
respect to the senior Senator from West Virginia, I think it cannot be 
laid at the feet of the Republicans; it should be laid at the feet of 
both Republicans and Democrats. This is not a partisan issue. Congress 
has the power of the purse, but we are not the best stewards of the 
taxpayers' money if time after time we pass omnibus bills without even 
knowing what is in them, and if, again and again, we fund programs 
without knowing how these programs are performing.
  Managing by continuing resolution is inherently wasteful and 
inefficient. It results in spending disruptions and chaos in the 
operations of Federal programs and dramatic productivity slowdowns. We 
have no appreciation of what not having a budget for 5 months has on 
the various Federal agencies that are supposed to be providing services 
to the people of our country.
  In recent years, many Federal Departments have taken positive steps 
toward streamlining their budgets and tightening the reins on their 
daily operations--conduct that ought to be rewarded. Instead, 
Departments are forced to thin their staffs and put critical projects 
on hold when Congress fails to pass appropriations bills on time, 
placing an unnecessary strain on the relationship between Congress and 
the administrative branch of Government.
  Such a funding shortfall is expected to have particularly adverse 
effects on human capital-intensive agencies, such as the Government 
Accountability Office, where attracting and retaining good employees is 
critical to running a competitive and productive organization.
  Agencies such as the GAO have made it very clear that without a 
budget,

[[Page S11163]]

they risk losing top-quality personnel. They are unable to properly 
recognize and reward individuals for good service--a problem that 
threatens the efficiency of their day-to-day activities and hampers the 
image of the Federal Government. As an employer, we want to get people 
to come on board, and we cannot pass our appropriations.
  This added pressure on human capital is not limited to the GAO. In 
fact, there are lots of similar agencies, such as the SEC, the FBI, and 
the IRS, which experience the same problem. According to a report in 
Congress Daily, the Social Security Administration maintains it will 
have to furlough every employee if its regular appropriations are not 
signed into law. I think that may be a big exaggeration, but it has a 
real impact on the operations of that agency.
  Many companies with Government contracts are laying people off 
because they are not sure that the contracts will be renewed because of 
the budget process. And I know this from a member of my family who was 
laid off a year ago. Because we did not pass the budget on time, the 
company said: We don't know whether we are going to have the contracts. 
Seventy people lost their jobs while they waited around to find out 
whether the appropriations were going to be passed and how it impacted 
on the operations of NASA Glenn in Cleveland.
  Sometimes programs are ineffective, and their budgets should be 
reduced or eliminated. By resorting to a continuing resolution, 
ineffective programs continue to operate, despite poor performance 
results. For example, the House would have terminated 53 programs, for 
a savings of $4 billion. But under a continuing resolution, we cannot 
even discuss whether these programs deserve to be terminated. 
Literally, dozens of unauthorized programs continue to be funded.
  On the flip side, the appropriations process has expanded beyond the 
budget domain to include shaping and authorizing policy. This is 
especially the case with Foreign Operations programs. It then becomes 
even more important to enact the Foreign Operations appropriations bill 
because it is the way we modify foreign aid and foreign policy 
initiatives.
  One such instance is the Transformational Diplomacy Program at the 
State Department, which would allow for the repositioning of American 
diplomats to essential locations and for the movement of public 
diplomacy centers to smaller posts outside of foreign capitals.
  But it is not just the Federal Government that suffers. States, 
counties, and cities all depend on funding from Washington. If you are 
a county commissioner or you are a mayor and you have Federal programs 
and you are not sure what you are going to be getting, that causes a 
major problem for your respective agency.
  When Congress fails to enact appropriations on time, highways, 
emergency preparedness, and economic development programs are all 
neglected, and Congress creates a new burden for Governors, mayors, and 
local officials. Maintaining and improving America's transportation is 
vital to our economy, the environment, and the welfare of the American 
people.
  The Interstate Highway System is one of the country's greatest public 
works projects, but it requires Federal investment. States plan their 
highway construction programs for the coming year based on anticipated 
Federal funding set by SAFETEA legislation. If Congress fails to pass 
the 2007 Transportation appropriations bill on time, States will have 
reduced Federal funding and are going to be forced to delay 
construction projects for the upcoming year.
  In my home State of Ohio, for instance, construction cost increases 
in inflation have already forced the Ohio Department of Transportation 
to cancel and postpone nearly $450 million in new highway projects. 
Adding a continuing resolution to this current slowdown will simply 
exacerbate the problem and result in further delay and further 
construction problems, if we don't pay any attention to that. That is 
going to impact the contracts they would like to let. That is why our 
States and workers cannot afford for us to ignore our budget 
responsibilities.
  It is incredible to me, as someone who has been a mayor and Governor, 
that the U.S. Senate has not completed its appropriations work. As a 
mayor and Governor, the law mandated that we get our appropriations 
done by the end of the fiscal year. I am sure the Presiding Officer, 
when he was a member in the State of Georgia Legislature, saw that they 
got their appropriations done on time. In Ohio, once in a while we had 
to put a cloth over the clock for a couple of days. The fact is, we got 
it done.
  I know I am not alone in my frustration. In fact, Thad Cochran, 
chairman, calls it irresponsible. He is the chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee. It is irresponsible; I second that. It is 
absolutely irresponsible.
  Let's look at our record on the path of fiscal irresponsibility. In 
fact, in 25 of the past 30 years, Congress has failed to enact all the 
appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year, which is a major 
responsibility, to get the budget passed and get the appropriations 
bills done on time. The last time Congress enacted all appropriations 
bills by September 30 was 1997. And for 17 of the past years, Congress 
has had to combine two or more appropriations bills together in an 
omnibus or minibus legislation. Given the facts, it is an indication to 
the American people that we are not doing our job. We are not being 
responsible.
  We send a signal to those in the Federal Government that we don't 
give a darn about how, when we don't do our jobs, they can't do theirs. 
Congress may hold the power of the purse, but we undermine our 
credibility by starving good managers and agencies of necessary 
resources and by turning a blind eye to failing programs. This is about 
more than allocating funds. It is about good management, and it is 
about good public policy. All of us on a bipartisan basis should pledge 
that we are going to get the appropriations bills done for 2008 on time 
and that next year we are not going to have a repeat performance of 
what we are experiencing this week in the Senate.
  I think if you talk about the frustration of the American people in 
terms of Congress and our responsibility to them, you can only conclude 
one thing if you were out there watching this. Folks are saying: They 
can't even get their appropriations bills done on time. That is a sad 
commentary. Let's start out next year on a new leaf. Let's all pledge 
to do this, both Republicans and Democrats. Let's say we are going to 
get this job done. I know some people have a problem with the process 
and some of the porkbarrel and the rest of it, but let's start out and 
say we are going to get it done, bring it to the floor, debate it, and 
get it done on time.

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