Senate Proceeding 07-07-09 on Jul 7th, 2009 :: 3:28:00 to 3:41:30
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3:27:52 to 3:28:13( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: bipartisan way to president deal with the unbelievable domestically and internationally. one easy way to help our nation is by psing our appropriation bills by september 30th. our getting it done this year is urgent because of the state of our economy and the impact

3:28:00 to 3:41:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: George Voinovich

3:28:14 to 3:28:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: federal spending has on that our reliance on continuing resolutions to fund the federal government continues to plague congress and has a cascading effect on government agencies and the citizens they serve. in recent decades it has become common for appropriation bills to be enacted after the start of

3:28:36 to 3:28:57( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the fiscal year during the last quarter of the calendar year or even in the next session of congress, as was the case this year. repeatedly managing by continuous resolution is inefficient. it results in wasteful spending, disruption and chaos in the operations of federal programs and dramatic productivey slowdowns.

3:28:58 to 3:29:20( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this is not a good record for either party and irrespons approach to resources and it's got to stop. last year becausehe senate did not do its job rushed to spend their budgets before the end of the fiscal year and used overtime to ensure requests for process before midnight on september 30, making

3:29:21 to 3:29:41( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: it ripe for overspending for agency this means fewer dollars returnedo the treasury to reduce the budget deficit. we need to get back to basics to solve it. this is one problem the congress this year. congress may hold the power of the purse but we undermine

3:29:42 to 3:30:03( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: credibility by star -fg managers of agencies of necessary resources and by turning a blind eye to failing programs. this is about more than allocati funds. it's about good management and good public policy. and i can assure you that as county commissioner, mayor and governor, if the appropriations were not don have been run out of t

3:30:04 to 3:30:24( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: not doing our job. inaction causes chaos in the operations of our federal government. continuing resolutions do exactly what their name implies. they continue funding at prior-year levels without regard to whether changes in funding are necessary or appropriate. as a result, agency program managers are now in the untenable position of having to

3:30:25 to 3:30:46( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: manage on the prior year's budget which often resultsn a loss of productivity and waste of taxpayer dollars. imagine if these same program managers could spend their time instead on our current economic situation ensuring that the stimulus funds are being spent wisely and appropriately. programs which cannot justify the level of funding they used

3:30:47 to 3:31:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: to have and ought to be cut will continue to get the level of funding they were getting. likewise, programs for which increased need has been demonstrated and which, therefore, should get increased fundg will continue to be funded at the prior year's level leaving the increased need under duress. since 19 # 0, the government accountability office has issued

3:31:09 to 3:31:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: its biannual high-risk report which examines challenges faced by federal programs and operations and recommends ways to improve their peformance and accountability. many of the programs on the g.a.o. high-risk list are deliver intended services to the taxpayer. in other instances the federal government is wasting taxpayer dollars that could be better

3:31:31 to 3:31:52( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: used for higher-priority programs or cutting the deficit. imagine if we were able to litigate one week or -- dedicate one week or one day per month as a body to debating solutions as challenges confronted by g.a.o. instead of stating when or where to proceed on appropriations

3:31:53 to 3:32:14( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: bills or a resolution to avoid the embarrassment of a government shutdown. mr. president, this is not the case of benign neglect. we have become overly reliant on past practice and refuse to make the end-to-end budget priority. continuing appropriations acts have become commonplace and unfortunately fully integrated

3:32:15 to 3:32:37( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: into the process. the end result is funding uncertainty not because the money isn't there, but because congress cannot join together in a bipartisan manner and out an agreement on how money should be spent. nousiness would manage its affairs in this manner, and need should the federal government. as i government is thenly level of

3:32:38 to 3:32:58( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: government that gets away with it. i think few of the senate recognize the adverse impact continuing resolutions have on agencies whose budgets rely heavily on freezes, cuts in traing budgets have lasting effects. it's irresponsible not to provide appropriations on time to those we have asked to

3:32:59 to 3:33:20( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: provide services to the american people and give them gigantic excuses to not perform. our inaction has also an on program management. federal public servants spend countless hours preparing detailed budgets. we reward hair hard work by asking them -- their hard work by asking them to figure out how

3:33:21 to 3:33:41( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: to manage under last year's budget. imagine if these people could spend their time managing programs instead of figuring out how to operate under a ntinuing resolution including completion of reprogramming requests. managing by contiing resolution has the effect of delaying construction, reducing overall efficiency, wasting time

3:33:42 to 3:34:02( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and paper resources and disallowing any new starts in procuremen fortune 100 companies d't walk away from difficult budget choices by taking a path to the next fiscal neither does main street u.s.a. regardless of whether you subscribe to the belief that c.r.'s save money, this is no way to run an organization. it is part of our obligation to

3:34:03 to 3:34:24( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the american people to ensure our scarce resources are given to projects that produce results. i want to share a few examples of the true resolutions taken from a memo prepared by the congressional research service in hearings before the committee on homeland security and governmental affairs. let's just take the department of education.

3:34:25 to 3:34:45( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the impact aid program is an elementary and secondary education program that does not receive forward funding or advance appropriation. and, therefore, is more easily affected by an interim continuing resolution. payments f disabilities are delayed when the department of education is operating under a continuing

3:34:46 to 3:35:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: resolution. usaid, the delay of funding the president's malaria initiative, which was enacted in order to reduce deaths due to malaria by 50%, lasted until february 15, 2007. five months, or 138 days into the fiscal year 2007. doing the math, this delay in

3:35:09 to 3:35:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: funding relates to the loss of people, 198,000 lives unnecessarily. the money wasn't there. we didn't get the job done. and this resulted in the deaths of individuals. nasa, on june 8, 2008, the federal times reported the following from nasa administrator michael griffin -- quote -- "any time congress

3:35:31 to 3:35:52( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: passes a continuing that hauls agencies to that i were current spending levels at a time when the economy is experiencing inflation translates into a budget cut and so we will be cutting the budget at question is: how much? and then the second question after how much is decided will the continuing resolution be broadly applied and left to

3:35:53 to 3:36:13( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the discretion of agency heads to implement or will special programs be targeted to be either favored or disfavored?" end of quote. fema, in fiscal year emergency food and shelter program which provides emergency food and shelter to needy individuals did not receive funds under the c.r. thus, the program did not have

3:36:14 to 3:36:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: funds available for communities and their respective homeless provider agencies during what many view as critical winter months until february 26, 2008, or 149 days into 2008. the judiciary, the judiciary has had to resort t or furloughing employees under continuing resolutions.

3:36:36 to 3:36:56( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: in fiscal year 2004, the judiciary reduced 1,350 positions with probation and pretrial significant cuts. h.u.d. -- during fiscal year -- i'm giving you examples that have been pointed out by c.r.s. duri fiscal year 2004, the

3:36:57 to 3:37:17( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: department of housing and urban development had to temporarily suspend the general and special risk insurance fund of the federal housing administration because the continuing resolution did not provide sufficient credit subsidy to continue with the program. during the suspension, h.u.d. was unable to meet the need of the borrowers who would ordina

3:37:18 to 3:37:39( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: programs which uncertainty among the lenders and potential borrowers. mr. president, i think most of us have seen what happens when we have uncertainty in our mortgage system. the treasury department -- continuing resolutions in fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year 2008 limited and delayed the i.r.s.'s ability to improvements in the taxpayer service.

3:37:40 to 3:38:01( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: also these continuing resolutions prevented the agency from making job offers to highly qualified candidates until enactment of a full-year appropriations. just jerk them research and development -- most research and development programs continue to receive funding at the prior year's level when operating under a continuing resolution.

3:38:02 to 3:38:24( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: however, this funding mechanism can only support priorities. new and emerging technologies must be funded in realtime. the social security administration -- operating under a

3:38:25 to 3:38:46( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: for 2010 will hamper efforts to reduce backlog in the agency's disability program which would result in decreased efficiency. also in previous years, continuing resolutions cause the agency to implement a hiring freeze that se while commissioner aster has gone to great lengths to send additional resources to my home

3:38:47 to 3:39:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: state, ohio still has people waiting more than 500 days for a decision on security disability plan. i was very crical of i started looking back at the continuing resolutions that were passed. a chaotic situation. they wer people they had. they weren't able to hire more people. they've got 500 days wait now. i'm sure the president gets the

3:39:09 to 3:39:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: same complaints from his people about they can't get their disability case appeals heard. d.h.s. -- in testimony before the house homeland security subcommittee on management, the department of homeland security's deputy procurement officer richard gunnderson spoke on the key programs. he testified -- quote -- "a c.r.

3:39:31 to 3:39:51( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: would sto those programs in their tracks, and we would not be able to grow the way that everybody is saying that we need to grow." mr. president, there's a lot more examples of what talking about, and i think -- this has got to be the year that

3:39:52 to 3:40:12( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we do our job. the senator from nevada, our leader, the senator from kentucky, our minority leader, have both publicly stated that we need to do our job on time. and as i mentioned earlier, the need for it is more urgent than ever before. if i were the president of the

3:40:13 to 3:40:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: united states today, i'd probably look at what congress is doing, and i think that i would say one of t gifts that you can give me, one of the greatest gifts that you can give our country is do your work on timeo that we don't have this chaotic situation we've had for so many years. none of our hands are clean. none of our hands are clean.

3:40:36 to 3:40:59( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i've deliberately not passed appropriations with the idea that maybe our guys are going to get elected president or we're going to get the majority in the senate or the congress, and so then we can tweak it the way we want to because a majority will -- no longer the majority. this game's been played for too long around here, and it's about time we recognized it and did

3:41:00 to 3:41:18( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: something about mr. president, absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will