[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 59 (Thursday, April 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2260-S2261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                H.R. 268

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, earlier this week, the Senate debated a 
disaster relief funding bill that would have provided $13\1/2\ billion 
in assistance to States and territories that have been touched by 
recent hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. I share my 
colleagues' commitment to provide necessary assistance to get affected 
Americans back on their feet.
  As chairman of the Budget Committee, I believe we should always 
consider the budgetary effects of any legislation pending before this 
body. Supplemental appropriations bills highlight a real challenge in 
controlling Federal spending. How should we budget for inevitable 
natural disasters and emergencies?
  Answering this question is important because the Federal Government 
continues to spend more money than it takes in and will soon confront 
annual deficits exceeding $1 trillion a year. These surging deficits 
add to our rising debt, which stands today at $22 trillion, or more 
than $65,000 per person. That is regardless of age--the baby who was 
born this morning owes $65,000. By 2029, if nothing is done, the 
national debt will grow to more than $33 trillion, or more than $94,000 
per person.
  Adding urgency to this situation is the surge in autopilot spending, 
which now represents more than two-thirds of what the Federal 
Government spends each year. Two-thirds of what we spend is not 
actually voted on; it happens automatically.
  As our population ages, rising healthcare and interest costs will 
compound our fiscal problems. In 10 years, nearly 80 cents of every 
dollar the government spends will be on mandatory programs and interest 
on the debt. We need to do everything we can to improve our fiscal 
situation, and that includes improving the way we provide disaster 
relief.
  Some of my colleagues may not realize that since the passage of the 
Budget Control Act in 2011, Congress has spent $250 billion outside of 
the discretionary caps responding to natural disasters and other 
emergencies.
  This spending has received special designations under the law that 
exempt it from discretionary spending limits, but such spending still 
has the very real effect of further increasing the Federal budget 
deficit--and the Federal debt. One designation that is often used is 
the ``emergency'' designation, which implies it is for something 
Congress did not anticipate. But as we all know, natural disasters 
happen on an annual basis, and in recent years we have had multiple 
natural disasters in a fiscal year.
  I want to applaud my friend from Utah, Senator Romney, for offering 
an amendment that recognizes the challenge of budgeting for disasters 
and emergencies. Disaster relief funding must be built into our base 
budgets, which is why I have incorporated these costs in recent budget 
resolutions, including the one that passed through our Budget Committee 
last week.
  While there is no silver bullet to this problem, I am willing and 
eager to work with any of my colleagues who believe there is a better 
way to anticipate these costs.
  The Senate Budget Committee recently held a hearing that partially 
touched on ideas to better budget for disaster funding. One option is 
to offset emergency spending increases with spending reductions in 
other areas. Another option could require a dedicated fund for 
emergencies, similar to how some States budget for these events. I have 
also considered whether a new actuarially sound insurance program could 
appropriately assess the risk for such disasters while maintaining 
affordable premiums. Budgeting for emergencies and disasters is not a 
precise science, but I believe Congress can do a lot better than just 
calling an emergency and adding to the debt.
  While we work to more honestly budget for these annual costs, there 
are

[[Page S2261]]

other ways we can lower the costs of natural disasters. The Federal 
Emergency Management Agency has found that every $1 spent mitigating 
against natural disasters saves an average of $6. Last year, Congress 
passed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which I was proud to support. 
This bill included programs that encouraged mitigation activities. 
Congress should be open to any idea that could help our country better 
plan for annual costs of these natural disasters. This would allow us 
to respond to natural disasters more efficiently, while also reducing 
the burden on American taxpayers.
  With our country more than $22 trillion in debt and quickly 
approaching $1 trillion annual deficits, we must do everything in our 
power to put our country on a more fiscally sustainable path. Better 
budgeting for natural disasters will not fix all of our financial 
problems, but it is a good place to start.
  Before I conclude, I want to touch on another area of concern, and 
that is the growing prevalence of directed scorekeeping. That is a way 
of saying: We are not going to count that, even though we are going to 
spend it, and we can spend it more than once.
  Congressional budget statutes have established scoring rules that are 
intended to provide standardized accounting to ensure that lawmakers 
have the best possible information upon which to base fiscal decisions. 
In recent years, however, we have seen more and more attempts to 
undermine that process and instead direct the scoring outcomes.
  Last week, the Senate Budget Committee, which I chair, approved a 
fiscal year 2020 budget resolution that aims to crack down on this 
process by allowing a surgical point of order to be raised against any 
such provision. What that means is that the offending provision can be 
stricken from the underlying measure unless 60 Senators vote to retain 
it.
  Unfortunately, the disaster bill which was brought to the floor this 
week included a provision that would essentially direct the 
appropriations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, up to a limit, 
to be scored as costing zero dollars. The effect of this change would 
allow Congress to spend an additional $2 billion above the statutory 
spending caps each year, while obscuring the real budgetary impacts 
from the American people. I filed an amendment that would solve that.
  It is long past time for an honest conversation about the fiscal 
challenges facing our country. In the Budget Committee, we tried to 
advance that conversation with the budget that was approved last week. 
Unfortunately, the directed scorekeeping provision in the disaster bill 
considered earlier this week would set that effort back. I hope that 
when Congress returns to consideration of disaster legislation, it 
abandons that multiple-spending effort.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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