“Demonstrates a lack of concern for chronic overspending,” Schatz says
(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today derided the House of Representatives for voting down legislation sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) intended to force Congress to remain within its budget.  The Spending Control Act of 2004 (H.R. 4663) would have revived “caps” on appropriations and a pay-as-you-go law that would require offsets in any legislation that would increase mandatory spending.

“A majority of representatives demonstrated today that they are not serious about cutting spending,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Given the opportunity to pass a budget enforcement bill, they failed miserably.”

First Congress rejected the Family Budget Protection Act (FBPA), H.R. 3800, offered as an amendment to H.R. 4663, by a vote of 88-326.  CCAGW considered H.R. 3800 to be the “gold standard” of budget enforcement.  Congress then voted down several of the FBPA’s provisions as amendments to H.R. 4663, including:  Giving the annual budget resolution the force of law; establishing an “automatic continuing resolution” to keep the government running beyond the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year when Congress fails to complete its appropriations work on time; and capping the growth of entitlement programs.  H.R. 4663 itself was defeated by a vote of 146-248.

“The true champions for the taxpayers in the House of Representatives demonstrated their mettle on Thursday,” Schatz continued.  “Their amendments and the corresponding votes divide the House into those who account for tax dollars sent to Washington, and those who spend recklessly.  We commend Reps. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), and Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), as well as the representatives who voted for their amendments for their gallant efforts to get spending under control.”

For some time, CCAGW’s membership has expressed disappointment over Congress’s spending habits, demanding more accountability for their hard-earned money.  Many were hoping that passage of the Spending Control Act and the four amendments supported by CCAGW would have brought fiscal sanity back to Congress.

“Unfortunately, the majority of this Congress prefers to be remembered for allowing spending and the size of government to grow out-of-control rather than restoring fiscal restraint by fixing the budget process,” Schatz concluded.  “House appropriators in particular worked feverishly to torpedo these efforts, showing more concern for pork projects than taxpayers.  We will remind taxpayers where their representative stood on this important issue by including votes on H.R. 4663 in CCAGW’s 2004 Congressional Ratings.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.