[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 24, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FISCAL YEAR 2013 APPROPRIATIONS

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues in 
support of Senate debate and passage of the fiscal year 2013 
appropriations bills.
  I want to begin by commending both Chairman Inouye and Vice-Chair 
Cochran for their leadership on the Appropriations Committee. In what 
has been largely a bipartisan process, the Senate Appropriations 
Committee has approved 9 of the 12 funding bills so far. A lot of hard 
work on both sides has gone into putting these bills together.
  As ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, Senator Murray and I 
worked closely together to craft a truly bipartisan fiscal year 2013 
appropriations bill. The T-HUD bill strikes a balance between 
thoughtful investment and fiscal restraint. In fact, this bill honors 
an allocation that is nearly $14.5 billion below fiscal year 2010 
levels, a 22-percent reduction. These deep cuts reflect an even deeper 
commitment to getting our fiscal house in order.
  I am proud of the work that went into this bill and the strong 
bipartisan vote this past April to report it out of committee. Like the 
T-HUD bill, the Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and 
Water; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; State and Foreign 
Operations; and Department of Homeland Security bills have all been 
reported with overwhelming bipartisan support. In putting together 
these bills, the Appropriations Committee functioned the way committees 
are supposed to: we worked together to develop thoughtful and 
responsible bills that could be recommended for the full Senate for 
consideration.
  As such, I was very disappointed to hear the majority leader's recent 
announcement that not one of the 12 appropriations bills would be 
brought to the Senate floor until after the election, virtually 
guaranteeing that we end up with a continuing resolution or catch-all 
omnibus that the full Senate has not had an opportunity to properly 
vet. I hope he will reconsider in light of our commitment to work with 
him to develop a workable and fair process for considering these bills.
  Given the immense workload that we have before the end of the year--
including enacting appropriations bills and preventing the so-called 
fiscal cliff, when enormous tax hikes and indiscriminate cuts to 
defense spending are set to kick in--I am disappointed that we have 
spent much of July haggling over proposals that never really stood a 
chance of going anywhere.
  I understand that the majority leader has said that he doesn't want 
to bring the bills to the floor because the House is writing its bills 
to a lower level, but we have a process to deal with disagreements. It 
is called a conference. The Senate Appropriations Committee has 
reported several bipartisan bills that are ready for floor 
consideration. Why not bring them to the floor, allow Senators to offer 
amendments, and let the Senate work its will on this important 
constitutional responsibility?
  As our Nation's economy struggles to recover, it is important that we 
complete appropriations bills on time and through regular order. It is 
important for the Senate as an institution that we proceed. It is also 
important for the American people to see that we can work together in 
an open and bipartisan manner to establish priorities, make hard 
decisions, and complete the work that the Constitution requires of us.
  Last November, I joined Chairman Murray as well as Chairmen Kohl and 
Mikulski and Ranking Members Blunt and Hutchison to usher the first 
group of fiscal year 2012 spending bills to final passage, avoiding a 
long-term continuing resolution for fiscal year 2012. It is my hope 
that we will build on last year's success and bring the fiscal year 
2013 appropriations bill to the floor to be considered through a 
similarly open and transparent process.
  These bills make investments that not only create jobs now when they 
are needed most but also establish the foundations for future growth. 
Just as important to our economic future, however, is reigning in 
Federal spending; we must strike the right balance between thoughtful 
investments and fiscal restraint, thereby setting the stage for future 
economic growth. Uncertainty only makes matters worse.

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