Hearings of the
House Committee on Rules
H.R. 853, The Comprehensive Budget Process Reform Act of 1999
Chairman, Committee on Rules
Today the Rules Committee embarks on the first of two original jurisdiction hearings on H.R. 853, the Comprehensive Budget Process Reform Act of 1999. The Committee today will receive testimony from 3 of the lead sponsors of the reform bill as well as an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accounting Office, the Concord Coalition, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and other noted witnesses. Tomorrow we will hear more testimony from many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
This bill is the product of two years of work between Members of the Rules and Budget Committees and also represents the first time in almost a decade that the two committees of jurisdiction in the House have come together in a bipartisan manner to construct a comprehensive budget process reform package. This is largely due to the leadership of Porter Goss, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process, who has united the two committees behind this common-sense reform plan which we are committed to bringing to the full House for consideration in the near future.
Make no mistake, the current budget process does not work. It is a disorganized patchwork of decades old rules and laws. This comprehensive bill increases efficiency, improves accountability and strengthens enforcement in the budget process.
Coming from California, let me highlight one example. We have learned that natural disasters are a fact of life – whether it’s hurricanes in Florida, ice storms in New York, floods in Iowa or an earthquake in my home state – we know that there will be some impact on the budget each year.
This bill will reform the budget process to require the President and the Congress to face reality and set aside a disaster reserve fund in the budget. We don’t need to pit the victims of mother nature against those who desire sound, fiscal policies, and this is just one of the many sensible reforms in this bill.
I look forward to hearing the testimony of our distinguished witnesses both today and tomorrow as well as to engaging in this important debate on reforming the budget process in the coming weeks.
With that let me yield to the Ranking Minority Member, Mr. Moakley, for any opening statement he may have.
