[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4402]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  LET'S MOVE FORWARD AND PASS A BUDGET

  (Mr. KILMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, at the end of last year, Congress put aside 
political grandstanding and actually made some progress: a budget 
agreement that was supposed to be a framework for 2 years. It wasn't a 
perfect agreement, but it kept us from going off a cliff. It did some 
good for the folks we represent. It set aside much of the damaging 
across-the-board cuts and gave Federal agencies, businesses, and 
workers some certainty and predictability.
  Congress simply passing a budget at this point is a bit like a dog 
playing the piano. The song may not sound perfect, but it is a dog 
playing the piano. Congress actually passed a budget.
  But here we go again. As I stand here, we, once again, don't have an 
annual budget. I struggle to explain to my constituents how Congress 
is, once again, snatching defeat from the claws of victory and how this 
dysfunction remains the norm.
  The solution here is simple. Let's stick to the compromise made just 
a few months ago. Let's stick with what a majority of the House and 
Senate actually backed just a few months ago. Let's avoid shutdowns and 
dysfunction and get to work on moving this economy and this Congress 
forward.

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