Date: 2012-02-01
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Res. 496. This resolution adjusts the amounts provided for the expenses of the select and standing committees of the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress. Last November. the Committee on House Administration held a fullday hearing at which we heard from our chairs and ranking members. At that hearing. we discussed how each committee absorbed the 5 percent budget reduction implemented at the beginning of the 112th Congress and how. as we continue to reduce government spending. they will manage additional reductions this year. Madam Speaker. I know. as a committee chairman myself. that we face the difficult task of doing more with less. Yet I also know that my constituents. all of our constituents. need us to do more with less and to rein in government spending. Families have been required to tighten their belts. and they constantly ask us to do the very same thing. They do not suggest it is easy. because it has not been easy for them. But they ask of us that which they have asked of themselves. Todays economy has forced our constituents to sacrifice and. as I say. tighten their financial belts to make ends meet at home. Congress should not be and will not be immune. While most committees are taking a 6.4 percent cut in line with the reduced funding levels of the 2012 legislative branch appropriation. certain committees faced with additional oversight responsibilities in 2012 were cut at a smaller percentage in order that they might be able to conduct their work. Particularly daunting will be the Armed Services charge of managing the automatic sequestration of $600 billion in defense cuts triggered by the Budget Control Act. And I hasten to add that is in addition to. or on top of. the $400 billion cut that is already being enforced by prior decisions by this Congress and the President. In addition to Armed Services. the Ethics Committee. tasked with holding Members and staff to the highest ethical standards. has requested and will receive a reprieve from funding reductions. To help offset these exceptions and match the reduced appropriations. weve identified and reduced authorizations of three committee budgets that we feel are able to absorb a slightly higher reduction in 2012. In addition to our committee. the Committee on House Administration. the Committee on Science. Space. and Technology. and the Committee on Small Business will receive a slightly higher reduction than the 6.4 percent applied to the remaining House committees. Madam Speaker. as weve demonstrated over the past year. this House is committed to living within its means and leading by example by putting an end to excessive spending. Our committees do vitally important oversight of the executive branch and Federal agencies. and that ought to be underscored if we are. in fact. going to be successful in holding down and controlling spending in the executive branch. We. the legislative branch. are the extension of the people we represent in an oversight capacity. and that is an extremely important responsibility. Our committees. as I say. do vitally important oversight of the executive branch and our Federal agencies. and while these reductions in committee funding will require committees to allocate their resources more judiciously. I am confident. based on the hearing. that they are prudent and manageable. Madam Speaker. these are extraordinary times. We face extraordinary debt. deficits. and unemployment. Trilliondollar deficits year after year after year would be practically unheard of just a couple of years ago. yet. unfortunately. they have become commonplace. That is unacceptable. We havent had an unemployment rate at the levels we have seen for such a sustained period of time since the Great Depression. Those are not facts that I like to recite on this floor. but those are the real facts that face our constituents every single day. Unfortunately. my area. over the last several years. we have had a higher unemployment rate than that which has prevailed in this country. California has had an unemployment rate. I believe. that has been the third worst in the entire country. We are not immune from what is being felt by the rest of the country. And when I am home. as I am sure other Members have found in their districts when they are home. we constantly hear the refrain. Where are the jobs? And following that. we hear the refrain. Why dont you get your House in order. referring to the entire Federal Government. Why dont you bring spending under control. because we believe it has a specific and direct and immediate drag on our ability to create jobs in this country. That ought to be. along with national defense. homeland security. our greatest objective. And so this is just a small part of our effort to be responsible. Through the adoption of this resolution and the 5 percent cut during our first session of the 112th Congress. this House is doing its job to step up to the plate and reduce spending and find cost savings wherever possible. We are taking bold steps to demonstrate our commitment to reduced spending and tighter budgets. This is not easy. I dont suggest it is. It is not easy to say that we are going to bring our budgets down and that our employees are not going to have increased salaries along with Members of Congress. but it is at least what we ought to do. Combined. I would say these measuresthat is. last year and this yearrepresent the largest percentage cut to committee budgets since the 104th Congress. when the House then adopted a resolution with an amendment by thenHouse Administration Committee Member JOHN BOEHNER to reduce committee funding by 30 percent. Madam Speaker. H. Res. 496 was reported out of the committee in December. and I now look forward to its passage by the House. I support H. Res. 496 and urge my colleagues to do the same. I reserve the balance of my time.