On the House Floor

This week, the House passed a continuing resolution to extend funding to operate the federal government through November 16, 2007. The House also passed H.R. 976, a bill to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program; H.R. 2693, the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act; H.R. 3567, the Small Business Investment Expansion Act; and H.R. 3121, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

On Saturday, Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 will end, which means the funding provided by Congress to operate the federal government will expire. Unfortunately, not one of the twelve spending bills needed to fund the various federal agencies for the next fiscal year, which starts on Monday, has been enacted. At first glance, it would appear as though the failure to complete this work is the fault of the Senate. In many ways, that is true. While the House approved the last of its twelve FY 08 spending bills in August, when the fiscal year ends tomorrow, the Senate will have passed just four. This has become an annual ritual for the Senate – ignoring the fact that the end of the fiscal year is approaching and continuing on with other legislation that is not as time sensitive. As such, the Senate has provided a major obstacle in recent years when trying to enact the federal budget. However, this year Democrat leaders in the House have determined that the Senate’s inaction does not provide a large enough challenge, so they decided to make things even more difficult by passing bills which exceed the administration’s requests by billions of dollars, essentially assuring these bills will not be signed into law by the President.

President Bush has promised to veto any bill that outspends the fiscally responsible budget plan set forth by the administration, and I, along with my Republican colleagues in the House, have pledged to sustain his vetoes in those instances. Just like the end of the fiscal year, Democrats know this is coming, yet they refuse to accept these certainties, and they continue to move forward with proposals that will not become law. Unfortunately, this is not without its consequences. For example, the FY 08 Veterans Affairs and Military Construction spending bill approved by the House will provide new initiatives to improve access to vital health services for veterans. The continuing resolution passed by Congress this week will prevent the government from shutting down, but it will not provide these new services that could have been available to our nation’s veterans. Democrat leaders in both the House and the Senate share the responsibility of moving forward a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. But no matter where the blame lies, Congress needs to enact fiscally responsible spending bills immediately.

Again and Again

The State Children Health Insurance Program bill passed by the House this week has many flaws to report. I could discuss the way Democrats are attempting to expand a program far beyond its original purpose or how they are paying for it with budget gimmicks that will result in further deficits, but it is easy to describe the most offensive part of this bill. During consideration of H.R. 976, Republicans offered an amendment to insert the following phrase into the text of the bill: “this act prohibits federal payments for individuals who are not legal residents or citizens.” And once again, Democrats refused to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer-financed benefits by blocking the addition of this sentence to the bill. I am never surprised by the willingness of Democrats allow people who willingly violate our laws to benefit from them, but I am always disappointed.

Quote of the Week

"I have been against the fence, I thought it's a bad idea even when it was just a matter of discussion.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), calling the plan to build fencing along parts of the Mexico border a "terrible idea” while touting legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would make it easier for illegal immigrants to receive higher education benefits. September 27, 2007