[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3642-3643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I rise to talk about two issues today. 
First, I will talk about the continuing resolution that will be on the 
floor of the Senate that we will likely finish this week.
  I know there is some consternation about the fact that a continuing 
resolution is being done, but there was no choice. We were left with an 
awful mess. This Congress was left with a mess where 10 appropriations 
bills were completed by the Senate Appropriations Committee but never 
brought to the floor of the Senate. They should have been done by 
October 1, signed by the President. We are now months into the new 
fiscal year, and those appropriations bills, done by the previous 
majority here in Congress, were not completed, and so we are left with 
a mess.
  We have put together, as best we can, a continuing resolution. We 
have made some adjustments to that continuing resolution. Earmarks are 
gone. These are adjustments to avoid some catastrophic things that 
would have happened without adjustments.
  I wish to mention with respect to the energy and water chapter of 
that resolution that we have done a number of things to try to preserve 
some funding for renewable energy. We have an energy issue that is very 
compelling in this country. We need to stimulate more renewable energy, 
so we are trying to keep the accounts which do that intact. We have 
tried to find the funding to preserve the Office of Science, which is 
the cutting-edge science that keeps us competitive in the world. That 
office would have had to lay off people had we not made some 
adjustments there. In the energy supply and conservation account, which 
is ongoing and very important, we have made some adjustments.

[[Page 3643]]

  The fact is, we have tried to find a way to address the mess we were 
left. We are doing it the best way we can. I believe the best approach 
is to pass this continuing resolution. It is true there are no so-
called earmarks or what is, in effect, legislative-directed spending. 
But it is also the case that adjustments have been made in a number of 
areas, including the energy and water accounts, that will try to remedy 
some of the otherwise very significant changes, in some cases 
catastrophic changes to the issues we care a lot about--energy 
independence, energy conservation, renewable energy, science, and so 
many other areas.
  I am pleased to support this continuing resolution. I wish we were 
not doing it this way. If I had my druthers, we would have passed the 
appropriations bills last year on time. That did not happen. So we are 
now faced with this mess of fixing a mess that was created by last 
year's majority. We do not have a choice. We have to do that. The 
Government would shut down if the funding were not available for the 
agencies, so we have a responsibility, and we will meet that 
responsibility.

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