[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 28603]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ON THE OUTSTANDING SERVICE OF JIM BATES TO THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN M. SPRATT, JR.

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 29, 2007

  Mr. SPRATT. Madam Speaker, with the recent decision by Jim Bates to 
leave the Budget Committee staff to serve as a program associate 
director at OMB, the Congress has lost a dedicated public servant and 
the Budget Committee has lost an important institutional resource. But 
our loss is OMB's gain. Jim served on the Budget Committee staff for 
nearly 20 years, starting in 1988 as a budget analyst for the 
Republican staff and eventually becoming staff director to Jim Nussle 
when he was chairman and to Paul Ryan as ranking member. During that 
long tenure, Jim rightfully came to be known as one of the top budget 
experts in Washington.
  Jim has a deep knowledge of both the programmatic and numbers side of 
the budget, on the one hand, and the budget process, on the other hand. 
One reason Jim knows the budget rules so well is that he helped to 
write them. He has been centrally involved in such budget milestones as 
the budget agreements of 1990 and 1997, as well in the debates we have 
had over the years about how to best structure the budget process.
  Year in and year out, he has been critically involved in the 
development, consideration, and enforcement of the congressional budget 
resolution--the key blueprint for Congress's spending and revenue 
decisions. Throughout, Jim has been a strong advocate for the 
importance of the congressional budget process, in general, and the 
role of the Budget Committee, in particular. We will miss Jim Bates and 
his steady presence as he leaves the Congress to begin his new job. But 
he departs with great respect and sincere appreciation that he has 
earned from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

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