Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the FY 2012 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill. Not because I object to cuts affecting Members of Congress or their staff. I do not. As I have repeatedly said, I believe a responsible solution to our national debt will require shared sacrifice from every American--and that includes Members of Congress, their staff and other employees of this House.

I object to this legislation because of the wrongheaded choices it makes elsewhere in the legislative branch of our government. For example, H.R. 2551 cuts funding for the Government Accountability Office by 6.4%--despite the fact that every dollar spent by the GAO on its oversight activities returns $4 in savings to the taxpayers. Additionally, as we wrestle with difficult issues in an increasingly complex world, I think Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle would agree that policymakers need access to more objective and independent expert analysis, not less. Yet this bill slashes funding for the Library of Congress and its widely respected nonpartisan Congressional Research Service by 8.5%--and it cuts funding for the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that serves as the definitive scorekeeper for every measure Congress considers by 6.4%.

Mr. Speaker, there are responsible and effective ways to reduce federal spending, and there are irresponsible and ineffective ways to reduce Federal spending. Unfortunately, this bill has too much of the latter and not enough of the former.

I urge a no vote.

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