[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 5, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6179-S6180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       HONEST BUDGET ACT OF 2011

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise to join Senator Sessions in 
introducing the Honest Budget Act of 2011. At this critical juncture in 
our Nation's fiscal history, we must no longer allow Washington to rely 
on an astonishing array of dishonest budget gimmicks to enable and 
conceal countless billions in Federal deficit spending.
  We can no longer accept budgets that compromise our economic growth, 
living standards, or opportunities that have been a hallmark of 
America's greatness, which is why Senator Sessions and I have 
introduced this important legislation. The Honest Budget Act of 2011 
will attack Washington's frivolous spending by stripping away many of 
the most egregious budget gimmicks in Washington, by making it harder 
for the Federal Government to spend money it does not have, and by 
confronting the culture of fiscal manipulation that is bleeding future 
generations of prosperity.
  Our budgetary process is intrinsically broken. Congress is required 
by law to adopt a budget resolution by April 15, yet in the past 36 
years Congress has met that deadline just six times. Throughout the 
last 10 years, Congress has approved a budget resolution on only six 
occasions. Congress failed to complete action on a budget resolution 
for 5 fiscal years: fiscal year 1999 in 1998, fiscal year 2003 in 2002, 
fiscal year 2005 in 2004, fiscal year 2007 in 2006, and fiscal year 
2011 in 2010. Not surprisingly, those fiscal years ended with large, 
spendthrift, omnibus appropriation measures or continuing resolutions.
  Last year, no budget and no appropriations bills passed for the first 
time since the current budget rules were put into place in 1974, 
resulting in an almost shutdown of the Federal Government in April 
2011. We have had 87 continuing resolutions in the past 14 fiscal years 
and we even failed to pass all 12 individual appropriations bills last 
year. Not a single appropriations bill passed for fiscal year 2011!
  Moreover, the majority in the Senate has failed to pass a budget for 
889 days now. No business or household in America can function without 
a budget, yet, there are no consequences for congressional inaction. 
The Honest Budget Act will change this.
  This tacit acceptance of emergent dysfunction in our budget and 
appropriations processes has only exacerbated the trend-line of 
unbridled federal spending, and it is symptomatic of the miniscule 
value Congress has assigned to averting economically corrosive deficits 
and debt. Congress violates the budgetary process and existing rules 
with impunity and no consequences year after year while our national 
debt is rising, living standard for millions of Americans is faltering, 
and America is losing a competitive advantage that was once the 
hallmark of this great nation.
  It is time we put an end to this habitual dysfunction! The Honest 
Budget Act of 2011 will address the many shortcomings of the budget 
process and it will force Congress to be accountable to the American 
people. Specifically, this legislation lays out nine specific fixes to 
ensure that the loopholes and gimmicks often utilized to circumvent the 
rules are eliminated for all time.
  Currently, the Congressional Budget Act empowers any Senator to raise 
a point of order preventing the consideration of appropriation bills 
without a concurrent budget resolution in place, but the Senate can 
waive it with a simple majority vote. As a result, the point of order 
is rarely raised and Congress can spend money without a plan or budget 
restraints.
  The Honest Budget Act will strengthen the point of order to require a 
vote of three-fifths of Senators to waive, enhancing the ability of 
Members to demand the Senate agree to a concurrent budget resolution 
before moving appropriation bills. Simply put, our legislation ensures 
that if Congress fails to pass a budget, then no appropriations bills 
will be considered.
  Another loophole that has often been exploited to spend excessively 
is designating certain federal spending as an ``emergency.'' Spending 
that Congress designates as an ``emergency'' is exempt from the 
controls designed to enforce budget restraint. By definition, an 
emergency should be necessary, urgent, unforeseen, and temporary.
  I understand that the Federal response to emergencies such as natural 
disasters and acts of war must be deployed rapidly and without 
unnecessary budgetary constraints. Unfortunately, attaching the 
``emergency'' designation to a measure is easy it is simply written 
into the bill text. A Senator can raise a point of order against the 
designation during floor consideration, but it can be waived with 60 
votes.
  Examples of the emergency designation abuse abound. For instance, the 
2008 supplemental appropriation bill included $210 million in 
``emergency'' spending for the 2010 Census even though, since its 
ratification in 1788, the Constitution has required a census every 10 
years. Moreover, the fiscal year 2011 appropriation omnibus bill 
included $159 billion in emergency spending for the Afghan and Iraq 
operations wars the U.S. has been fighting for 10 years!
  The Honest Budget Act fixes this broken process by prohibiting any 
bill, joint resolution, or conference report from carrying an emergency 
requirement unless it is added via an amendment. A supermajority would 
then be required to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair. A new 
point of order could be created against an emergency requirement in an 
amendment that requires 60 votes to waive.
  These simple fixes are just a few of the commonsense budget process 
enhancements the Honest Budget Act makes. These are the types of 
focused improvements that must be implemented to work alongside a 
balanced budget amendment to ensure that Congress begins to operate in 
a more honest and open fashion.
  Since 2002 the Nation has run a deficit each and every year and our 
gross debt has increased from $6.2 trillion to almost $15 trillion. 
Over the past 5 years alone, government has managed to increase 
spending by a remarkable 40 percent, contributing to the largest budget 
deficits in our history over the last 3 consecutive years. The Federal 
Government is now borrowing roughly 40 cents of every dollar it spends. 
I do not believe that any of my colleagues in the Senate would argue 
that the budget process is working properly or as intended. The reality 
could not be starker.
  Our Nation can no longer afford the gimmicks and loopholes too 
frequently

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used in the past to dodge existing budgetary restraints. Targeted 
budget process reforms will compel Congress to return to the regiment 
and discipline of the budget and appropriations processes, and thereby 
force the government to establish priorities and abide by those 
priorities.
  In an August of 1987 televised Oval Office address, President Reagan 
said, ``The Congressional budget process is neither reliable nor 
credible; in short, it needs to be fixed.'' It has now been nearly a 
quarter-century since President Reagan sought to fix the budget 
process. It is time we heed his advice.

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