Delivers Remarks Slamming Congress’ Broken Budget Process
U.S. Senator Steve Daines today delivered remarks on the Senate floor calling for serious reforms to Congress’ budget process. Daines highlighted Congress’ record of ignoring the “Budget Control Act” and routine failure to enact all 12 appropriations bills by September 30th.
Watch Daines’ remarks HERE.
Daines’ remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Mr. President, it’s been my privilege to represent the people of Montana in Congress for more than a decade.
“I have seen Congress wrestle and struggle with many challenges during my time here. I’ve heard my constituents voice concerns, and deservedly so, about most of them.
“By far the most consistently bad habit Congress has is its failure to follow its own budget process.
“In fact, it is not an understatement to say that the budget process has completely collapsed in both chambers.
“And boy do I hear about this back home.
“Nearly everywhere I go in Montana folks tell me they are tired of Congress’ dysfunction and especially its lack of fiscal discipline.
“For a body that was elected to represent the will of the people of this country, we are doing the exact opposite.
“This is simply not what our constituents sent us here to do.
“Too many families in our country are living paycheck to paycheck. They are working multiple jobs to make ends meet.
“Most importantly, they are sacrificing to do so.
“When they elect their representatives, they expect good, responsible governing. They expect Congress to operate like they do when it comes to budgeting and spending and living within their means.
“Yet year in and year out Congress does anything but.
“Let me read you the tale of the tape.
“The last time we enacted all 12 appropriations bills by September 30 was 1997.
“That was nearly three decades ago.
“Even sadder is how Congress has ignored the Budget Act.
“The Budget Control Act became law in 1974. This law put into place the modern budget process.
“It was enacted, ironically, to give Congress more control over federal spending and the budget process. Theoretically this would give our constituents a stronger say in the how their tax dollars are spent.
“What has Congress done with that authority?
“Since the Budget Control Act became law 50 years ago, Congress has been out of control.
“Congress rarely even passes a budget resolution anymore, which is supposed to start the budget process every spring.
“That budget resolution is supposed to provide a roadmap for how we approach the appropriations process.
“Without this roadmap, Congress inevitably finds itself in a spending trainwreck.
“And our constituents by default have little say in how their tax dollars are spent.
“And that is exactly what has happened year after year.
“In the past 50 years, since the Budget Control Act was passed, Congress has only enacted all 12 appropriations bills on time four times: 1977, 1989, 1995, and 1997.
“This year, Senate Democratic leadership hasn’t brought a single appropriations bill to the floor, and we are just 12 days from the beginning of the new fiscal year.
“Continuing Resolutions that fund the government ‘at current levels’ are the norm. In fact, between 1977 and last year Congress passed 200 Continuing Resolutions. Two hundred!
“And thus, the threat of a government shutdown is always looming.
“All of this forces Congress to fund the government through what we call omnibus appropriations.
“For those watching back home that means instead of giving each appropriations bill a hearing and the scrutiny it deserves, most of the spending bills are all lumped together into one or two giant bills often thousands of pages long.
“No one has time to read the entire bill before we pass it so it’s usually full of wasteful spending on pet projects that were inserted in the dead of night.
“Since 1982, Congress has passed 36 omnibus appropriations bills. That is just short of one per year. Since that time, omnibus appropriations bills have served as the legislative vehicle for more than half of the federal government’s appropriations.
“In short, our broken budget process has created an incredible amount of uncertainty. In fact, the only thing that is certain in this whole mess is that this broken down process has exacerbated the federal government’s out-of-control spending.
“This is no way to run a household or small business, not to mention the government.
“And the American people know it.
“Why is all of this so important?
“As I mentioned, Congress does not have a revenue problem. Congress has a spending problem.
“Our failed budget process is not the only cause for the fiscal disaster facing our country but it plays a significant role.
“The last time the government had a budget surplus was 23 years ago, in 2001.
“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that the budget deficit for this year will be around $2 trillion.
“This is unprecedented.
“In fact, the deficit over the next decade will now total a staggering $22.1 trillion.
“Even more frightening is the fact that Medicare will be broke by 2031 and Social Security by 2034.
“By 2035 CBO estimates that debt held by the public will top $50 trillion and be the equivalent of 122 percent of GDP.
“Those are staggering numbers.
“We can no longer ignore this crisis.
“To start the long process of fixing it we need to start with serious budget reform.
“The people of Montana know I am not a creature of Washington. Nor do I care to be.
“I am not a career politician. I did not work my way up through the ranks of the state legislature. My experience is in the private sector.
“Anyone who’s been to Montana knows that while Montana is the most beautiful state in our country, the strength of our state lies with our people.
“Montanans are the hardest working folks in the country.
“They believe in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
“And they never hesitate to share a good dose of common sense—something that is severely lacking in Washington, D.C., today.
“Montana common sense combined with my private sector experience taught me a number of principles I think we can apply to our budget process.
“For starters, we need to hold members accountable, and performance needs to be scrutinized.
“When structural failure persists, it must be addressed.
“For that reason, if Members of Congress cannot pass all 12 appropriations bills on time they should not get paid.
“It’s that simple.
“If you don’t do your job, you don’t deserve a paycheck. Especially when the American people are the folks paying you.
“That should put an end to our government shutdowns. And let’s be honest, shutting down the government only punishes the American people.
“Put the pain on Congress and that will start to change things around here in a hurry.
“Second, Congress should address all spending, including discretionary and non-discretionary programs.
“Think about it, our discretionary spending process is utterly dysfunctional, and there are virtually no forcing mechanisms to require Congress to actually deal with the autopilot spending that accounts for nearly 70 percent of federal spending.
“And avoiding the tough challenges within mandatory spending means our national debt will just continue to soar to new incomprehensible heights, and our children and grandchildren will be without the safety net support they are counting on for their retirement years.
“This will require bipartisan cooperation to save these programs for future generations.
“And speaking of bipartisanship, the reforms we make must work in both unified and divided government.
“Right now it is impossible to pass a bicameral budget during divided government. And this just leads to the unwanted, behind-closed-doors mad dash as the expiration date for the latest continuing resolution approaches.
“Which leads to my final and perhaps most important point.
“Any reforms to our broken budget and spending process must be bipartisan.
“There will always be disagreement on how taxpayer dollars should be spent but we should be able to agree on a workable, durable process to make those decisions.
“To that end, we need to build on the good work of my friend and former colleague, the late Senator Mike Enzi from Wyoming.
“During more than two decades serving in the Senate, Mike worked tirelessly on this issue. Many of his proposals deserve a strong look if Congress is to find a solution.
“I believe two in particular deserve attention.
“The first would reorient the budget resolution to a two-year cycle. This would allow Congress more time to not only develop but also enforce the budget.
“I also believe Senator Enzi’s proposal to create a new special reconciliation process that could only be used for reducing the deficit also warrants consideration.
“There are many others. I know a number of my colleagues have weighed in on this issue as well. I welcome their ideas.
“And so the question I pose today to members on both sides of the aisle is this: ‘When are we going to get serious?’
“How many more times are we going to kick the can down the road? How many more shutdowns? How high must our deficits and debt climb before we say enough is enough?
“Mr. President, I submit today that we reached that point long ago.
“It is past time to bring the common sense of my constituents to bear on the nation’s budget process.
“Now is the time for serious budget reform.”