Senate Budget Committee

Supporting Broad-Based Economic Growth and Fiscal Responsibility through Tax Reform

Wed, 22 May 2013 02:30:00 EST

Witnesses:

Michael Linden
Managing Director, Economic Policy
Center for American Progress

Adam Looney, PhD
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies
The Brookings Institution

Veronique de Rugy, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Senators Warner and Portman Introduce Bipartisan DATA Act

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:00:00 EST

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced bipartisan legislation to improve and expand federal fiscal accountability. The legislation requires standardized reporting of federal spending to be posted to a single website, allowing citizens to track spending in their communities and agencies to more easily identify improper payments, waste and fraud. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA), which Sens. Warner and Portman also introduced in the previous session of Congress, is a Senate companion to legislation introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49), the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD-7).

“This legislation will allow us to track the full cycle of federal spending by ‘following the money’ on a single website, and that should be incredibly helpful to both taxpayers and policy makers,” Sen. Warner said. “The DATA Act will require spending transparency at the program level and will aid our efforts to make smarter investments while reducing improper payments and fraud. This legislation is an example of how Washington is supposed to work -- across the aisle and on both sides of the Capitol.”

“At a time when the government is running trillion-dollar deficits on top of a record $16 trillion debt, Washington should be doing all it can to track how taxpayer dollars are spent. Better visibility and public disclosure of our government’s $3 trillion in yearly spending is critical to identifying and eliminating waste,” Sen. Portman said. “Our bill would reform and significantly improve USASpending.gov by strengthening federal financial transparency, empowering taxpayers to see how their money is spent, and providing a better tool for eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.”

“The American people deserve accurate, timely, and complete checkbook level spending information,” said Chairman Issa. “The DATA Act will standardize and open federal spending data so that those inside and outside of government can actually use spending data to save taxpayer dollars by cutting waste, fighting fraud, and spending smarter.”

"By providing taxpayers with information about how their money is being spent, the DATA Act will empower them to hold the government accountable and will make our government more effective and efficient," said Ranking Member Cummings.

During a Budget Committee Government Performance Task Force hearing last week chaired by Sen. Warner, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) voiced support for the intent of the DATA Act in addressing duplication. “This is essential… It's one of the basic building blocks of tackling this issue,” GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro testified. “Unless there is a legislative framework in place with clear data standards and public reporting to the Congress on federal programs, addressing duplication will not happen. I commend your and Chairman Issa’s efforts in that area.”

The DATA Act requires the development of government-wide financial data standards to make it easier to compare federal spending across federal agencies. It also requires that the standardized data be analyzed to prevent waste, fraud, abuse and improper payments. In addition, the DATA Act takes steps to simplify financial reporting and improve the quality of spending data. It also requires that the information be posted on the USASpending.gov website, which initially was developed when Sen. Portman served as director of U.S. Office of Management & Budget in 2006-07.

Sen. Warner, chairman of the Budget Committee’s bipartisan Government Performance Task Force, has worked consistently to protect taxpayers by demanding greater efficiency and better performance from federal agencies and programs. Sen. Warner was the lead sponsor of the 2010 Government Performance and Modernization Act, which is now law and requires federal agencies to annually report on their highest and lowest performing programs. Sen. Warner also has been a leading voice on Capitol Hill for the reform or elimination of federal programs that overlap or are ineffective.

A summary of the DATA Act can be read here, and the legislation can be accessed here.

Senators Warner and Portman Introduce Bipartisan DATA Act

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 EST

A summary of the DATA Act can be read here, and the legislation can be accessed here.

Opening Statement of Chairman Patty Murray at the Senate Budget Committee's Hearing on the Nomination of Brian Deese to be Deputy Director of OMB

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:00 EST

“This hearing will now come to order.

“Before we begin, I want to take a moment to join the President in expressing my sadness at the heartbreaking destruction in Oklahoma.

“Too many people have lost so much—loved ones, their children, their homes and livelihoods – and many more are injured and fighting for their lives. I know I join the President, all of my colleagues here and all Americans in saying that my thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragedy.

At times like these, I know that we are all also incredibly grateful for the heroic work of our first responders who are working to help those impacted by the storm. And I will work with my colleagues to do everything I can to provide them, and the communities affected, with the resources they need for relief and to recover from this disaster as quickly as possible.

“I’d like to thank ranking member Senator Sessions—and all of my colleagues for joining me here today.

“As well as members of the public here or watching online.

“Today we are considering President Obama’s nomination of Brian Deese to be the next Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“Brian – thank you for joining us here today.

“I’d also like to recognize and welcome Brian’s family, who are also with us today -- his wife, Kara, and mother, Patricia.

“As we all know, the support of our families is so important to those of us in public service – so thank you to Kara and Patricia, as well as the rest of Brian’s family, for your dedication and sacrifices as well.

“This nomination comes at a critical time for our country. We continue to face serious fiscal and economic challenges that we need to work together to address.

“The American people are looking to us to end the constant artificial crises and political brinksmanship that is threatening our fragile economic recovery.

“It’s time that we stop governing from crisis to crisis, and return stability and regular order to our budget process.

“That’s why I am proud of the work we did here in the Budget Committee and on the Senate floor last month to write, debate, and pass a responsible budget plan that puts economic growth and the middle class first, and that tackles our deficit and debt responsibly.

“It has now been 59 days since the Senate and House have each passed budgets—the President has weighed in with his proposal—and the next step in the budget process is for the two sides to come together in a conference committee and work toward a bipartisan deal.

“Democrats and Republicans have been talking about the need to return to regular order—Including some of my Republicans colleagues on this committee who just a few months ago were explicit about the fact that once the two chambers passed their budgets, the work of conferencing must begin.

“So I have been very disappointed that Senate Republicans seem to now be backtracking from that, and have blocked us from moving to conference every single time we have asked over the past few weeks.

“But I am hopeful that this obstruction ends soon—because I had thought that the one thing Democrats and Republicans could agree on is that we should be working together to return stability and regular order to a budget process that has been broken and chaotic for far too long.

“Aside from the recent budget conference obstruction, there have been some recent positive steps.

“Last month, the Senate voted unanimously—96 to 0—to confirm Sylvia Burwell as the next director of OMB.

“It is critical that we continue to have strong and consistent leadership at OMB—especially now as we work together toward a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement.

“I know that Sylvia will be a great leader – but we can’t afford to have vacancies in other key budget positions during this important time for our economy.

“That’s why today’s hearing in consideration of Brian Deese to be the next Deputy Director of OMB is so important.

“Brian has been a key part of the Administration’s economic team over the past six years—as a top economic advisor on the campaign and transition team, then as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and now as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.

“In these roles, he was instrumental in pulling our economy back from the Great Recession, making sure key American industries remained healthy and strong, and investing in policies that boosted the economy and created millions of new jobs.

“As a chief architect of the auto rescue plan, Brian reinvigorated a definitive American industry during a time of deep economic uncertainty – and he did it in a way that also helped our economy recover.

“And he was right – the auto rescue helped save a million American jobs, and the auto industry today is thriving.

“We’ve also started to see the government make important headway on reducing our deficit responsibly during Brian’s time in the Administration.

“Just last week, CBO released its latest baseline.

“These revisions show that we’ve begun to make significant progress on reducing our short and medium-term deficits.

“This is welcome news. CBO now estimates that the deficit for 2013 will be more than $200 billion less than its February projection.

“This means that in two years, CBO expects the deficit will have fallen in half.

“To be clear, we still have important work to do to continue to tackle our longer-term debt and deficit challenges in a responsible and fair way – but we should acknowledge that under this administration, we’ve begun to make significant progress.

“In fact, just on Friday, CBO informed us that the President’s 2014 budget continues this important progress, by first stabilizing the debt by 2015, and then lowering it further as a share of the economy to down below 70 percent by 2023.

“As a key economic expert over the past four-and-a-half years in the administration, Brian has been part of these efforts.

“So I am pleased that he will bring this important knowledge of fiscal and economic policy with him to his new role at OMB. We’ll discuss these issues further with him here today.

“Brian also made comprehensive Wall Street reform a priority during his time in the administration – working to put in place measures to protect the country against the devastating impact of another financial crisis.

“As someone who grew up working at my dad’s five and dime store on Main Street in Bothell, Washington—I couldn’t agree more that we need to bring Main Street values back to our financial system.

“That’s why as Chairman of this committee, I’ve made an effort to bring those values to our budget process as well.

“I believe that budgets are a reflection of our priorities, and they are about families across America who are impacted by the decisions we make.

“So I’m glad that Brian has a track record of putting middle class families over Wall Street profits —and it is my belief that he will bring these values to the budget process at OMB.

“Brian also knows that we need to create a sustainable path for future economic growth.

“Our country has serious deficit and debt challenges, but we also face equally significant deficits in education, worker skills, infrastructure, and innovation.

“We need to keep investing in infrastructure, jobs, our students and our workers.

“We can’t continue to sacrifice long-term investments to solve short term problems.

“So I appreciate that, as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, Brian emphasized that we need to do more than just recover from our current fiscal challenges – we need to invest in future growth and ensure that we can compete in the global economy of tomorrow.

“I share this commitment to investing in our future – and I look forward to working with Brian to make sure these important investment priorities are reflected in our budget process.

“There are tough challenges before Brian, Sylvia, and all of us here on the Budget Committee.

“I had the chance to sit down with Brian earlier this month, and I’m looking forward to hearing from him more today.

“It is clear that he has a strong understanding of economic and budgetary policy.

“And, he knows firsthand how to create fiscal policies that work for middle class families and help our economy grow.

“So I am confident Brian possesses the kind of experience, knowledge, and judgment necessary to succeed in this leadership position – and to help bring a balanced and responsible approach to our budget challenges.

“I hope that we can move quickly on this nomination since we need to return stability to our budget process, and filling this position is an important part of that effort.

“And I hope to schedule a Committee vote on this nomination soon so that the full Senate can confirm the nominee in a timely manner.

“I look forward to asking Brian some questions following his testimony.

“But we will first turn to Senator Sessions, the Ranking Member of this Committee, for his opening statement.”

The Nomination of Brian C. Deese, of Massachusetts, to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:00 EST

Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) and the Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Brian Deese to the position of Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Mr. Deese testified on the need to achieve responsible deficit reduction and to provide economic opportunity and stability for working families:

“Much of my professional work has focused on the role that fiscal policy can play in promoting stronger and more durable economic growth. I believe that sound fiscal policy requires all of us to not shy away from our long-term fiscal challenges and to work diligently to reduce our deficits to strengthen the economy for both current and future generations. If confirmed, I will work closely with Director Burwell to build on the progress we have made and to help find common ground on the kind of comprehensive deficit reduction plan that will achieve these vital objectives.”

“I believe the Budget is fundamentally a vision for how Government and those of us in public service can deliver better outcomes for our economy and middle class families. It is, in essence, a reflection of our values and priorities as a country. If confirmed, I will work every day to uphold those values and priorities.”

Mr. Deese’s full testimony can be found here.

Key Excerpts from Murray’s opening statement:

“I am confident Brian possesses the kind of experience, knowledge, and judgment necessary to succeed in this leadership position – and to help bring a balanced and responsible approach to our budget challenges.”

“Brian has a track record of putting middle class families over Wall Street profits —and it is my belief that he will bring these values to the budget process at OMB.”

“It is clear that he has a strong understanding of economic and budgetary policy. And, he knows firsthand how to create fiscal policies that work for middle class families and help our economy grow.”

Watch Chairman Murray give her opening statement.

Chairman Murray’s opening statement:

“This hearing will now come to order.

“Before we begin, I want to take a moment to join the President in expressing my sadness at the heartbreaking destruction in Oklahoma.

“Too many people have lost so much—loved ones, their children, their homes and livelihoods – and many more are injured and fighting for their lives.

“I know I join the President, my colleagues here and all Americans in saying that my thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragedy.

“At times like these, I know that we are all also incredibly grateful for the heroic work of our first responders who are working to help those impacted by the storm.

“And I will work with my colleagues to do everything I can to provide them, and the communities affected, with the resources they need for relief and to recover from this disaster as quickly as possible.

“I’d like to thank ranking member Senator Sessions—and all of my colleagues for joining me here today. As well as members of the public here or watching online.

“Today we are considering President Obama’s nomination of Brian Deese to be the next Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“Brian – thank you for joining us here today. I’d also like to recognize and welcome Brian’s family, who are also with us today -- his wife, Kara, and his parents Patricia and David. As we all know, the support of our families is so important to those of us in public service – so thank you to Kara, Patricia and David, as well as the rest of Brian’s family, for your dedication and sacrifices as well.

“This nomination comes at a critical time for our country. We continue to face serious fiscal and economic challenges that we need to work together to address. The American people are looking to us to end the constant artificial crises and political brinksmanship that is threatening our fragile economic recovery. It’s time that we stop governing from crisis to crisis, and return stability and regular order to our budget process.

“Democrats and Republicans have been talking about the need to return to regular order—including some of my Republicans colleagues on this committee who just a few months ago were explicit about the fact that once the two chambers passed their budgets, the work of conferencing must begin.

“Aside from the recent budget conference obstruction, there have been some recent positive steps. Last month, the Senate voted unanimously—96 to 0—to confirm Sylvia Burwell as the next director of OMB. It is critical that we continue to have strong and consistent leadership at OMB—especially now as we work together toward a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement.

“I know that Sylvia will be a great leader – but we can’t afford to have vacancies in other key budget positions during this important time for our economy.

“That’s why today’s hearing in consideration of Brian Deese to be the next Deputy Director of OMB is so important.

“Brian recognized that letting Detroit go bankrupt would actually increase federal spending on programs like Medicaid and unemployment insurance – and that by instead investing in American workers and jobs we could spur economic growth. And he was right – the auto rescue helped save a million American jobs, and the auto industry today is thriving.

“We’ve also started to see the government make important headway on reducing our deficit responsibly during Brian’s time in the Administration.

“Just last week, CBO released its latest baseline. These revisions show that we’ve begun to make significant progress on reducing our short and medium-term deficits.

“This is welcome news. CBO now estimates that the deficit for 2013 will be more than $200 billion less than its February projection. This means that in two years, CBO expects the deficit will have fallen in half.

“As a key economic expert over the past four-and-a-half years in the administration, Brian has been part of these efforts.

“So I am pleased that he will bring this important knowledge of fiscal and economic policy with him to his new role at OMB. We’ll discuss these issues further with him here today.

“That’s why as Chairman of this committee, I’ve made an effort to bring those values to our budget process as well.

“I believe that budgets are a reflection of our priorities, and they are about families across America who are impacted by the decisions we make.

“So I’m glad that Brian has a track record of putting middle class families over Wall Street profits —and it is my belief that he will bring these values to the budget process at OMB.

“Brian also knows that we need to create a sustainable path for future economic growth.

“Our country has serious deficit and debt challenges, but we also face equally significant deficits in education, worker skills, infrastructure, and innovation. We need to keep investing in infrastructure, jobs, our students and our workers.We can’t continue to sacrifice long-term investments to solve short term problems.

“I share this commitment to investing in our future – and I look forward to working with Brian to make sure these important investment priorities are reflected in our budget process.

“There are tough challenges before Brian, Sylvia, and all of us here on the Budget Committee.

“I had the chance to sit down with Brian earlier this month, and I’m looking forward to hearing from him more today. It is clear that he has a strong understanding of economic and budgetary policy. And, he knows firsthand how to create fiscal policies that work for middle class families and help our economy grow.

“I hope that we can move quickly on this nomination since we need to return stability to our budget process, and filling this position is an important part of that effort. And I hope to schedule a Committee vote on this nomination soon so that the full Senate can confirm the nominee in a timely manner.

“I look forward to asking Brian some questions following his testimony. But we will first turn to Senator Sessions, the Ranking Member of this Committee, for his opening statement.”

The Nomination of Brian C. Deese to be Deputy Director of the OMB

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:00 EST

The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on the confirmation of Brian Deese to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:38:00 EST

1500 AM Federal News Radio: White House wants to root out copycat programs - starting with STEM

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:30:00 EST

Jack Moore

The White House wants to cut the number of science, technology, education and math (STEM) programs run by federal agencies in half.

The Obama administration's proposed fiscal 2014 budget called for consolidating or eliminating 116 of the government's 226 STEM initiatives and centralizing the coordination of STEM programs under just three agencies: the Education Department, the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution.

"This structure will help ensure that related programs are coordinated and that resources are focused on programs that deliver the most impact per dollar in their respective domains," said John Holdren, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, testifying before a Senate Budget Committee panel Thursday on government performance.

The committee's Task Force on Government Performance, chaired by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), examined how the administration aims to root out duplicative federal programs.

In recent years, STEM efforts, which account for about $3 billion in spending, have become a poster child for government duplication. The Government Accountability Office reported in 2012 as much as 83 percent of federal STEM programs overlapped with at least one other program.

The White House's proposal calls for the elimination of 78 programs altogether — which represents about $176 million in savings, Holdren told the committee.

"Obviously, there are some folks who are not pleased by losing those particular programs, and so we've heard about that," Holdren said. "But I think on the whole, the agencies appreciate and understand the reasons for this approach. They understand the need for greater coordination, coherence, efficiency and ease of evaluation."

The savings will be repurposed into STEM efforts, Holdren said. Overall, the White House is seeking $3.1 billion next year for STEM — 6 percent more than Congress appropriated last year.

GAO: Copycat programs all over government

The administration's STEM proposal is one of the government's first visible steps in reversing some of the duplication that riddles the federal landscape and which some lawmakers have seized on as examples of government waste.

STEM is only one of a number of areas prone to duplicative and overlapping programs pinpointed each year by the Government Accountability Office.

Agencies, however, have been slow to heed GAO's recommendations for phasing such programs out. Agencies have fully implemented just 12 percent of the 300 recommendations made by GAO since 2011 in the area of duplication. Twenty-one percent of GAO's recommendations have not been addressed at all, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told the committee.

But while agencies often get the blame for wasteful programs, Congress, itself, can contribute to the problem.

"One of the things I see is members of Congress propose new programs and then they don't even look to see whether there is a program already addressing the area," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).

Ayotte's not alone in that assessment.

A bipartisan bill, introduced last month, would require the Congressional Research Service to analyze proposed legislation to determine whether it creates new programs that duplicate the work of existing ones.

What causes duplicative programs?

Dodaro said different factors contribute to the build-up of copycat programs.

"There's an accretion over time," he said. "Surface transportation is one. We start out with the interstate-highway system in the '50s. We added, over decades, to come up with 100 programs. So it happens over time. Secondly, you'll have a broad program to, say, provide training to someone who's unemployed. And somebody will say, 'Well, we're not getting to the veterans; we're not getting the Native Americans; we're not getting to the youth.' So, we need programs in those areas as opposed to figuring out how to make the basic program work more effectively for those targets."

The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, which Warner sponsored, gave agencies new tools to measure program performance and to cut ties to less-effective programs.

"Oftentimes, agencies will be happy to trumpet their most successful programs," Warner said. But not so much the less successful ones. "And in an area of tight fiscal constraint, we have to not only look at those programs that are doing well, but we have to look at those programs that are underperforming."

The data from agencies on program effectiveness is now starting to roll in, he said.

"As we go through these challenging times, hopefully that will be a guidepost for us," he added.

Goverment Executive: Agencies Need Congress’ Help to Weed Out Duplicate Programs

Thu, 16 May 2013 05:30:00 EST

By Charles S. Clark

The success of any Obama administration bid to eliminate overlapping or duplicative programs may hinge on bipartisan cooperation from a turf-conscious Congress as well as clear and enduring metrics, a Senate panel was told on Thursday.

Efforts to curb the proliferation of education programs promoting science and math, for example, “will obviously mean some folks are not pleased at losing their programs,” the top White House science adviser said, “but agencies understand the need for greater coherence in administering them.”

John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, testified before the Senate Budget Committee’s Task Force on Government Performance on the topic of “Silo Busting: Effective Strategies for Government Reorganization.”

The topic is being championed by task force leader Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who began the hearing by reiterating his intention to introduce a bill—as he did in the previous Congress -- to give President Obama his requested renewal of authority that chief executives enjoyed before the 1980s to consolidate agencies to streamline management and save money. “Any CEO worth his or her salt knows this is a key tool,” Warner said, adding that during his freshman year in the Senate he identified 11 programs that both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations agreed should be ended.

“You quickly learn it’s the hardest thing, particularly across departments and with Congress’ authority entities. Each program has a champion within government or Congress,” he said.

The Government Accountability Office over the past three years has identified 300 actions that agencies could take in 131 program areas to reduce duplication. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro at the hearing reviewed the most recently reported ones, mentioning the military services’ separate pursuit of uniforms, the existence of renewable energy Initiatives at 23 agencies and duplication of investments in geospatial information technology among multiple federal and state agencies.

But making headway, Dodaro said, will depend on improved congressional oversight, clear measures of progress that are kept in place over time, and more joint- and multiple-committee hearings on the administration’s 14 cross-agency goals required under the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act. “Unless Congress pays attention, it won’t be sufficient to meet our long-term fiscal challenges,” he said, adding that “it’s not the program person’s job to stop the program -- in fact, the incentives are the opposite.”

The comptroller did cite progress. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for example, recently saved $15 million by cancelling duplicative audits of program integrity contracts. But at least 21 percent of the action items have not been addressed, he said.

Dodaro said government programs duplicate themselves through a process of “accretion” over decades. He also pointed to the addition of new target populations for training programs and the Defense Department’s “service-specific incentives and stovepipes.” He said he would favor current legislation to require all bills creating new programs to document whether similar programs already exist.

Holdren noted that the Obama fiscal 2014 budget calls for spending of $3.1 billion, a 6 percent increase, on programs promoting science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, programs. Some 226 of them are currently spread over 13 agencies, and the White House proposes to save $176 million by eliminating 78 and consolidating 38. The effort would be led by the Education Department, the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers less formal courses, but all three would “draw on resources and expertise from the other agencies and reach out to their specific audiences.” A strategy paper on the topic is due out later this month, he said.

Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. , said, “Common sense reforms too often fall victim to business-as-usual politics, and this needs to stop in these challenging times.“ She zeroed in on the catfish inspection program, which currently involves the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Fish and Wildlife Service, expressing hope that it will be streamlined during debate next week on the farm bill.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., asked the GAO chief whether during sequestration he had received calls from agencies on how to save money. Dodaro said not personally, but he expressed hope that agency managers had looked at the three GAO reports on duplication.

Warner said he would also like to pursue passage of the pending DATA Act, which aims to streamline finance systems, noting that the Pentagon alone has 200 financial systems. He would also like to relive agencies of obligations to produce some 200 reports to Congress that, he says, “never get looked at. It’s not a huge amount of savings, but it would be as “a sign to federal workers,” Warner said, “that we in Congress focus on a better way.”

Murray Continues Calling for Republicans to Choose a Bipartisan Budget Conference Over Brinkmanship

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:30:00 EST

“I urge my Republican colleagues in the Senate to take a step toward a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement, and a step away from governing by crisis”

Murray Continues Calling for Republicans to Choose a Bipartisan Budget Conference Over Brinkmanship

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:30:00 EST

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered a speech on the Senate floor urging Senate Republicans to stop blocking the Senate from moving to a budget conference with the House. Murray asked for unanimous consent to move to conference and for the eighth time, Senate Republicans refused.

Murray expressed hope that Senate Republicans will change course, agree to a bipartisan budget conference, and work with Democrats toward a balanced and fair deal. She criticized House Republicans for debating what to demand in return for not pushing the government into default and devastating the economy, rather than moving towards bipartisan negotiations.

Over the past few days, more and more Senate Republicans have come out in opposition to their leadership’s budget conference obstruction. Read more about Senate Republicans fracturing on this in Politico and CQ.

Watch Murray’s speech HERE

Key excerpts from Murray’s floor speech:

“…I am here today to ask again that Senate Republicans stop blocking the next step in regular order, and allow us to move to a bipartisan budget conference with the House. We have waited long enough, 54 days, in fact, and it is really time to get to work on a bipartisan budget agreement.”

“Senate Democrats see no reason to delay. We are proud of our budget, which puts forward a strong, fair vision for getting more Americans back to work, tackling our long term debt and deficit challenges, and laying a foundation for a strong middle class in the future.”

“…some of our Republican colleagues in the Senate and the House would rather wait until the next crisis, and see if they can extract political concessions with the clock ticking. Or maybe they don’t want to have to air the details of the unpopular House Budget. But either way, there is no excuse for putting the American people through another round of partisan brinkmanship. We’ve already seen that it hurts our economy, and it causes Americans to question whether their government is really working for them.”

“Just yesterday, House Republicans met to discuss what they’ll demand in exchange for not tanking the economy. Apparently they are considering “a laundry list” including repealing Obamacare, which the House will vote on for the 37^th time today, and restrictions on women’s health choices. But House Republicans’ practice of leveraging crises for their own gain died with the Boehner Rule, and no amount of wishing is going to bring it back.”

The full text of Senator Murray’s speech follows:

“M. President, I am here today to ask again that Senate Republicans stop blocking the next step in regular order, and allow us to move to a bipartisan budget conference with the House. We have waited long enough, 54 days, in fact, and it is really time to get to work on a bipartisan budget agreement.

“It seems, M. President, that some of our Republican colleagues in the Senate and the House would rather wait until the next crisis, and see if they can extract political concessions with the clock ticking. Or maybe they don’t want to have to air the details of the unpopular House Budget. But either way, there is no excuse for putting the American people through another round of partisan brinkmanship. We’ve already seen that it hurts our economy, and it causes Americans to question whether their government is really working for them.

“Because M. President, House Republicans may think brinkmanship helps them win political fights, but it certainly doesn’t help American families and communities, and that is who we are here to serve. And so I urge my Republican colleagues in the Senate to take a step toward a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement, and a step away from governing by crisis.

“M. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that the amendment, which is at the desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; that H. Con. Res. 25, as amended, be agreed to; the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, all with no intervening action or debate.

“Thank you, and I yield the floor.”

Silo Busting: Effective Strategies for Government Reorganization

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:30:00 EST

The Committee on the Budget and the Task Force on Government Performance held a hearing examining effective strategies for government reorganization.

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:12:00 EST

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:11:00 EST

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:09:00 EST

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:08:00 EST

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:07:00 EST

Silo Busting: Effective Strategies for Government Reorganization

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:00 EST

The Committee on the Budget and the Task Force on Government Performance held a hearing on Silo Busting: Effective Strategies for Government Reorganization

Chairman Murray Continues Push for Budget Conference

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:30:00 EST

"Instead of moving toward the middle, and joining us at the table ready to compromise, House Republicans spent their afternoon debating what to write on the ransom note”