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Washington, D.C. - Recently, the United States House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government through the rest of this fiscal year. The process used to pass this bill, and the fact that the Continuing Resolution actually passed, both illustrate how the new majority is changing the way the House operates. Much of it is simply a change of attitude.
House passage of the Continuing Resolution is significant because it actually begins the work of making the difficult choices necessary to getting our fiscal house in order. Rather than simply starting with the amount we spent last year and adding to it, we looked everywhere for places to cut spending and we found them – some $100 billion worth trimmed from the President’s budget.
Make no mistake. The government is still in the red, but we are beginning to turn back the tide of runaway spending that has been the fashion in the last few years.
Almost as important as the fact that this bill actually cut spending is the process employed while considering it. When this bill was debated on the House floor, it was considered under an open process where our colleagues in the minority could contribute amendments to make our efforts more effective. By the time we were finished, the bill had been amended numerous times to make spending cuts, and a dozen of those amendments that were accepted came from minority members.
This was a breakthrough. House rules make it possible for the majority to all but shut out the minority’s ability to contribute to crafting legislation. Having recently been in the minority, I remember well what is was like to be a bystander, shut out of the legislative process by the rules of the majority party. We’re all better off when we try to be as inclusive and cooperative as possible. And passage of the Continuing Resolution proves that.
I am proud of the funding bill that the House ultimately produced. For the first time in a long time, the House was able to pass a bill that actually cuts government spending. While it wasn’t a perfect bill, it is a giant step in the right direction and makes me optimistic that the new majority can keep the promises we made to the American people.
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