Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee - Impact of Government Shutdown on Economic Security

Hearing

Mr. Chairman, we find ourselves in the midst of an avoidable partial government shutdown that no one wants, but somehow we've been unable -- or unwilling -- to end. Let's hope that changes quickly.

This lapse in government funding has been felt across the country, including by many South Dakotans. The immediate and longer-term impacts of this shutdown cannot be ignored. But, we also must not ignore the problems that precipitated the current crisis.

One of the main reasons we find ourselves in this predicament is the Senate's failure to do its job, year after year, to pass appropriations bills. As we all know, Congress is supposed to pass annual appropriations bills. We are expected to pass 12 of these targeted funding bills each year by October 1st. Yet, so far this year, the Senate has passed zero. Not one. We need to get back to the normal funding process, so that we're not ever faced with a shutdown.

For far too long we've been operating under these short-term, crisis-to-crisis, spending bills that lump everything together. This imposes burdens--in terms of planning and proper budgeting--on the programs and agencies we're funding. And, it cheats Congress--and the American taxpayers--out of the kind of oversight and debate that should be occurring as part of the appropriations process in order to be fiscally responsible with the taxpayers' money and improve our country's long-term fiscal health.

In the current stalemate, there is no shortage of finger pointing. But it is important to note that, aside from passing four measures to keep all federal agencies funded, our colleagues in the House of Representatives have passed over a dozen targeted bills to get important sectors of our government back up and running. These bills have included funding for National Guard and Reserve pay, nutrition assistance for low-income families, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and veterans' services. Of particular note for this hearing, the measures adopted by the House would also: open all of our national parks and museums; provide funding for the National Institute of Health, including ongoing cancer research; fund the Food and Drug Administration; and ensure immediate funding for the Federal Aviation Administration.

So, Mr. Chairman, as we reflect on the impacts of this funding impasse, we should acknowledge that there are viable options to end the partial shutdown, or mitigate its negative consequences. I know some of our colleagues have rejected the idea of dealing with discrete impacts of the shutdown, but our collaboration on behalf of our men and women in uniform and their families suggests that some efforts to minimize the impacts of the shutdown are worthy of consideration.

In addition to the important issue of the partial shutdown, we are now also faced with the request from the administration to raise the debt ceiling. It seems increasingly likely that these two issues, in the short-term and long-term, will be dealt with together. Unfortunately, the president, and some of our colleagues here in the Senate, have previously insisted that they will not negotiate. Hopefully this week's meetings at the White House reflect a willingness to reconsider that shortsighted strategy.

It seems to me that raising the debt ceiling without taking reasonable steps to address our growing debt--which is rapidly approaching $17 trillion--is simply irresponsible. So I hope our colleagues from both sides of the aisle will come together to find the common ground here and address these issues. If we don't, we'll be burdening our children and grandchildren with unsustainable debts that will diminish their chance to participate fully in the American Dream.

Mr. Chairman, let's hope that this is the last hearing held on this issue, and that -- in the very near future -- we are talking about long-term solutions to our fiscal problems, rather than the consequences of our failure to act.

With that, I want to thank our witnesses for their willingness to appear today and share their views on the impacts of the current shutdown.

Source