[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14264-14265]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION

  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, the United States is considering H.R. 
2608, a continuing resolution to ensure our vital Federal programs can 
continue in operation while the Congress completes action on our 
appropriations bills for this fiscal year.
  As all of my colleagues are aware, I do not welcome the reality that 
we once again need to approve of stopgap measures as we prepare to 
begin the next fiscal year, but, unfortunately, that is the position we 
are in now. The acrimonious and time-wasting debate on raising the debt 
ceiling has led us to this place. Put simply, we have no choice but to 
pass this short-term measure.
  I wish to point out, however, that unlike last year, we see this as a 
short-term need, not a long-term remedy, because even though there was 
neither an agreement on spending levels nor an allocation to the 
Appropriations Committee for discretionary spending until the August 
recess commenced, I am happy to inform my colleagues that the Senate 
Appropriations Committee has completed its work on 11 of the 12 bills 
required to fund our Federal agencies. In the past 3 weeks, the 
Appropriations Committee has met to review and favorably approve 10 
bills for fiscal year 2012. Eight of those bills were reported out of 
committee in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, and by that I mean 
something like 29 to 1. The Senate has received five of these bills 
from the House. The Appropriations Committee is ready to take up any of 
these bills on the floor when time allows.
  In the interim, enacting a continuing resolution is essential before 
the Congress goes on recess. The bill passed by the House provides the 
bare-bones minimum required to ensure that government functions will be 
continued without interruption. It also includes a few critical 
legislative provisions to sustain vital programs which otherwise would 
be terminated. There were many more items which the administration and 
Members of this body would have wished to include, but the House did 
not agree to include them. The House CR also provides a limited amount 
of disaster funding, which has been addressed by others.
  I want to state for the record that I am particularly disturbed at 
the position of the House that fiscal year 2011 emergency disaster 
assistance would be offset by canceling the advanced technology vehicle 
program. It has long been a tradition of the Congress to approve 
disaster assistance without need for offset. Others will likely come to 
the Senate floor to challenge that remark. They will point out that in 
many, if not most, emergency supplementals the Congress has recommended 
using rescissions to offset the cost of the bill. They are correct, but 
as usual the details tell the true story.
  The Appropriations Committee annually reviews unobligated balances 
that remain in programs and those that are unnecessary are recommended 
for rescission or reapplication to other programs. However, in the case 
of disaster assistance, I challenge my colleagues to review all 
appropriations bills for the past decade and find a single instance 
where the committee paid for disasters by rescinding funds from other 
programs. No one would find an example because, quite simply, there are 
not any. Equally important, as noted above, year after year the 
Congress rescinds unobligated funds, but only when they are no longer 
needed. In the case of the remaining balances for the advanced 
technology vehicle programs, these funds are needed. Hardly a day goes 
by that someone does not come to the floor and note the need for job 
creation. Here is a program that is creating good jobs with a future. 
Investing in new technologies to make our Nation more competitive in 
the international marketplace is exactly the type of program where 
Federal Government intervention makes sense. The notion that our 
Republican

[[Page 14265]]

colleagues in the House would propose rescinding $1.5 billion in 
funding from this program in the current economic climate borders on 
the nonsensical.
  Finally, I would note that today's balances in the disaster relief 
fund are now at $175 million. Our people are in need of assistance now. 
The Congress cannot wait any longer to address this need. All of my 
colleagues should come together in a bipartisan agreement to strip out 
the ATV offset, approve meaningful disaster assistance today, and 
return this bill to the House for reconsideration. I hope we have the 
good sense to resolve this matter.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of New Mexico). Without objection, 
it is so ordered.

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