Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

Floor Speech

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The continuing resolution on the floor today represents the largest reduction in non-security discretionary spending in the history of the Nation. It funds the Federal Government for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, but, most importantly, Mr. Chairman, it answers taxpayers' callings to right our Nation's fiscal ship, making specific, substantive and comprehensive spending reductions, cutting more than $100 billion, compared with the President's fiscal 2011 budget request.

This CR reverses a trend of out-of-control Democrat spending over the last 2 years that has increased overall discretionary funding, including stimulus, by 84 percent in 2 years. Never before has Congress undertaken a task of this magnitude, but never before have we been faced with a deficit crisis of this scale. The government is borrowing over 40 cents of every dollar that it spends.

Our constituents sent us a clear, decisive message in the last election. They want government to spend less, stop undue interference in American lives and businesses, and take action to create jobs and get our economy moving again. Through the Republican Pledge to America, we made the commitment to do just that, and today we offer the first step in fulfilling these promises by presenting a spending package to the American people that makes deep but manageable cuts in nearly every area of the government.

This bill is about shared commitments and shared sacrifice. Make no mistake: These cuts will not be easy, and they will affect every congressional district. But they are necessary and long overdue. Although we recognize that every dollar we cut has a constituency of support, an association, an industry, individual citizens who will disagree with our decision, these cuts are the necessary difficult work by our subcommittees to make the smartest and fairest reductions possible.

No stones were left unturned, no programs were held sacred. The Appropriations Committee went line by line to craft a responsible, judicious CR, one that will allow our economy to thrive, our businesses to create jobs and our national security to be strengthened. Our subcommittees scoured the budget for wasteful activities and cleaned out excessive and unnecessary spending, while prioritizing the most essential and effective programs, including $460 million for accelerating the process through which veterans resolve their health care claims and an additional $13 million for increased oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP.

The CR includes absolutely no earmark funding and eliminates all previous earmark funding from fiscal year 2010, saving taxpayers approximately $8.5 billion. Furthermore, it includes a provision to eliminate any unobligated stimulus funding approved in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, another $5 billion of taxpayer dollars saved.

As we help put our Nation's budget back into balance, we are finding real savings that are justifiable to the American people and that will stop the dangerous spiral of unsustainable and irresponsible deficits.

In addition, this CR is only the first of many appropriations bills this year that will significantly trim Federal spending. It is hard-and-fast proof that we are serious about returning our Nation to a sustainable financial and fiscal path.

However, so that we can continue the important work of reducing spending in our regular budgetary work for this year, the House, Senate, and White House must come together to complete this process before March 4, when our current funding measure expires. It is critically important that the House move this CR to avoid a government shutdown and get these spending cuts passed by the House, over to the Senate, and let them act their will to avoid a shutdown, and then get the bill to the President. The American people expect no less.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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