Hearing of the Committee on Rules
Open Hearing to receive Member testimony on proposed changes in House Rules
Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, I thank you for holding this hearing and considering the members' proposals on ways to better conduct the House. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you and once again bring to your attention a matter of great concern to many and an issue that is near and dear to my heart, preventing government shutdowns.
The problem of government shutdowns is a serious matter. Since 1977, the government has been shut down seventeen times, costing the taxpayers over $1 billion. Since my election to the House of Representatives in 1982, I have witnessed eight government shutdowns. To me, the worst instance occurred when our troops were poised for battle in the Persian Gulf. It was at that time that I introduced my first government shutdown bill. Many others, of course, will remember the shutdown of 1995, in which the government was shutdown for a total of twenty-seven days costing the taxpayers $44 million.
For the better part of a decade, I have been introducing legislation that would establish an automatic continuing resolution. As you know, the automatic continuing resolution would remove the threat of a government shutdown due to an impasse in the budget process. This simple budget process reform would provide for continuing appropriations at the level of the previous year, preventing government agencies from shutting down in the absence of regular appropriations.
This is an important safeguard. Because funding continues at the previous year's level - a neutral level - both sides of the congressional appropriations debate have an additional incentive to complete work on the appropriations bills in a timely manner, without giving either side a political advantage.
Many myths about the dire results of such a proposal have been propagated, casting a pall over the idea of an automatic continuing resolution. Let me make it clear, my proposal does not circumvent or replace the normal appropriations process, including the option to pass additional continuing resolutions. Nor does my bill increase or decrease any funding levels. It is purely a "safety-net" measure to prevent government shutdowns in the event of stalled negotiations in the budget process.
This idea of an automatic continuing resolution is not some theoretical notion that has never been tested. The State of Wisconsin has taken this good government approach to budgeting, and it has worked well. It has not diminished the power of appropriators and neither has it reduced the pressure to reach agreement on state budget funding levels. An automatic continuing resolution has been proven effective and workable at the state level and it can be effective and workable at the federal level.
This provision is a good government, pro-taxpayer idea. It is simply wrong to shut the government down. It is also wrong to use the threat of a government shutdown for the advancement of a political agenda. This is something that we should be committed to making off limits. We need to assure the taxpayers that regardless of the disagreements and battles that occur in Washington, they can always count on the government to be operating and providing its proper services. This is the people's government. As such, we have no right to shut down the government or use the threat of a government shutdown to advance our political agenda. The shutdowns of the past have shaken America's faith in government. It is within our power to send a clear message to the American people that there will be no chance of them ever being a victim of our inability to come to a consensus on our budget priorities.
The proponents of my measure, and there are many - 173 voted for the measure the last time it came to the floor, including many members of this committee - face an uphill battle; after all, the threat of a shutdown is one of the most effective weapons in the arsenal of legislative politics. However, I remain vigilant, and I pledge to do all that I can to ensure that our government never faces another shutdown. That is why I return to the Rules Committee, time and time again, to propose my concept. And at this visit I urge the Committee to include language in the Rules of the House for the next Congress that would reflect my anti-shutdown legislation.
Mr. Chairman, without question, we should have enacted an automatic continuing resolution years ago. But we did not. So let us restore the public's faith in its leaders by showing that we have learned from our mistakes. I ask for its adoption and urge all members to support this good government reform measure.
