Senate Proceeding on Nov 19th, 2009 :: 7:13:35 to 7:31:40
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7:13:24 to 7:13:46( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: omnibus bill and sent to the president. thus far this year, we have not been able to complete action on all 12 appropriations bills but we have made significant progress. the senate has debated a stand-alone agriculture appropriations bill and an interior appropriations bill for

7:13:35 to 7:31:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Thad Cochran

7:13:47 to 7:14:09( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: the first time in four years. ideally, these bills should be subjected to the scrutiny of the full senate every year. this year there have been hearings in each subcommittee and the bills have been subjected to subcommittee and full committee markups. we have tried to get the bills to the floor individually so

7:14:10 to 7:14:32( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: that all senators have an opportunity to offer amendments and so we can avoid the necessity of grouping the bills into an omnibus bill. the chairman, who is the distinguished senator from hawaii, mr. inouye, deserves the credit for these improvements. all senators on the committee

7:14:33 to 7:14:55( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: have cooperated, though. despite the many difficulties associated with enacting the appropriations bills, the process compels us to hear testimony, analyze programs, and consider funding needs and priorities on an annual basis. it isn't always a smooth or easy process, but it has the benefit

7:14:56 to 7:15:16( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: of compelling us to continually reevaluate the level of federal spending. that is not the case when we create long-term or permanent mandatory spending programs. i don't mean to criticize the oversight of the authorizing committees. many of them do excellent work

7:15:17 to 7:15:38( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: in this regard. holding agencies and recipients accountable for their management decisions. but once a funding stream is made mandatory, it is difficult to reduce or cut off the spending or use the leverage future funding to motivate more ficient management of federal

7:15:39 to 7:16:00( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: programs or activities. one of the justfications often cited for creating mandatory spending pro funding recipients need predictability to properly and efficiently manage programs. while there may be some truth to this, in itself it is not a

7:16:01 to 7:16:21( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: sufficient reason to make a new program mandatory or to change an existing program from discretionary to mandatory. if increased predictability is the goal, congress should make greater efforts to get the annual appropriations bills don't as close to on time as

7:16:22 to 7:16:46( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: possible. and in an open and orderly fashion that allows scrutiny of the proposed spending. failure to process the appropriations bills in this manner has the effect of driving interest groups to seek the predictability of long-term mandatory funding streams.

7:16:47 to 7:17:07( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: in whereby congress must take proactive steps to reduce o el proactive steps to contie spending. as a general matter, madam president, we should be very that direction, in my opinion. and as i look at major

7:17:08 to 7:17:29( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: legislation that congressas slated to consider over the coming months, i'm greatly concerned. of mostmmediate concern is the health care bill on which we will soon begin debate. the bill reported by the senate finance committee creates new programs with direct

7:17:30 to 7:17:52( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: appropriations that should be funded or not funded through the annual appropriations process. there are mandatory programs for maternal infant and early childhood home visitation and for personal responsibility education for adulthood training. there are grants for

7:17:53 to 7:18:14( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: school-based health centers, emergency psychiatric care and a demonstration program to address health professions workforce needs. a previously authorized childhood obesity program is directly funded with a mandatory appropriation. many of these program are funded for only a few years.

7:18:15 to 7:18:36( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: just enough time to get funding recipient invested in the program after which expectations will be overwhelming that the programs be continued with annual appropriations. as ranking member on the labor, health, and human resources subcommittee, i might be

7:18:37 to 7:18:58( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: inclined to support funding some of them. but beginning new programs with short-term mandatory funding is a recipe for trouble. it results in hiding the long-term costs of these programs and provides no opportunity up front to consider tradeoffs between the new

7:18:59 to 7:19:21( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: programs and existing programs. the health care bill reported by the "help" committee includes a new prevention and public health fund to support and expand sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs, to improve health and help restrain the hate of growth

7:19:22 to 7:19:45( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: in private and public sector health care that's a quote from the bill. the bill for this purpose in fiscal year 2010 alone. and increases that amo to $10 billion by fiscal year 2014.

7:19:46 to 7:20:06( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: -- 2014 and thereafter. this has long been a priority of the senator from iowa, senator harkin, and to the committee's credit, the bill provides some latitude for the appropriations committee to allocate funds among various pvention and wellness programs in the out years.

7:20:07 to 7:20:29( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: at its heart, however, this provision implies that we know today what the appropriate federal investment for wellness programs will be 10 or 20 years from now. i just don't think that's plausible. if prevention and wellness programs are that important,

7:20:30 to 7:20:51( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: let's call up the labor, health, and human services appropriations bill and either increase the size of the bill or reallocate money within the bill to support wellness programs. and when appropriations begins, let's analyze how those programs are

7:20:52 to 7:21:12( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: working and consider, once again, the appropriate funding levels for the coming year. beyond the health care bill, there is legislation to address global climate change. here again we face the prospect of massive new annual federal

7:21:13 to 7:21:34( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: expenditures being established on a mandatory basis. effectively being put on autopilot right from the beginning. while nobody knows the value of the carbon allowances that would be auctioned under some climate bills, it is clear that tens of

7:21:35 to 7:21:57( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: billions of dollars from such auctions wld be plowed directly back into an array of programs administered by federal, state, and local government agencies. some of the programs have a more obvious relationship to climate -- climate change than others. just to list a few, the senate

7:21:58 to 7:22:18( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: reported bill directly funds clean vehicle technology, building retrofits, advanced energy research, nuclear worker training, coastal preservation, and federal land acquisition. many programs that would be

7:22:19 to 7:22:41( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: funded by this identical or similar to programs already funded in annual appropriations bills. others are entirely new. are we truly confident in the year 2016 it will be prudent to

7:22:42 to 7:23:02( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: spend $4.00 -- 4.3% of an unknowable amount of auction revenuesn deforestation efforts? are we sure that in 2030 we should be spending .74% of auction proceeds on worker assistance programs?

7:23:03 to 7:23:24( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: congress should protect its ability to reconsider support or opposition to such spending annually or at least periodically based on program performance and our current national interest. and what about funding of federal land acquisition?

7:23:25 to 7:23:46( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: i have supported some federal land acquisitions in my state of mississippi. sometimes to incorporate important resources into our national park system. sometimes habitats by including them in our national wildlife refuge

7:23:47 to 7:24:07( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: system or in our national forests. i have had other senators request specifically that we not approve the federal acquisition of a particular piece of property. this has been a particularly sensitive issue for our western

7:24:08 to 7:24:28( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: colleagues, particularly in whose state federal landownership is already extensive. yet in the climate bill we are being asked to allocate funding to the executive branch on a long-term basis for unspecified federal land acquisition

7:24:29 to 7:24:49( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: projects all with no apparent mechanism for congressional oversight. are any senators really comfortable with that arrangement? this is just one example of why congress should consider programs on an annual basis through an open process rather

7:24:50 to 7:25:11( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: than putting programs on autopilot and then struggling against the tide of e entrenched interest to react when things don't go as expected. in july the house passed an education bill, the student, aid, and fiscal responsibility act.

7:25:12 to 7:25:32( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: the bill terminates the programs that authorize private lenders to make federally guaranteed loans to students and provides that future student loans will be provided only through direct federal loans from the united

7:25:33 to 7:25:54( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: states department of education. my concern with this is that the house passed bill establishes a number of new mandatory education programs and expands several existing programs with mandatory funding streams.

7:25:55 to 7:26:17( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: the congressional budget office estimates the house passed bill would reduce mandatory spending by $87 billion over the next decade. but the house bill directly spends all but $8 billion of that amount on new and expanded programs.

7:26:18 to 7:26:38( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: it directly funds a new college access and completion innovation fund. it establishes mandatory funding streams for school modernization, ren novation, and repair -- renovation, and repair, including a program for

7:26:39 to 7:27:00( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: gran for states along the gulf coast. it establishes programs for early childhood education and reforming community colleges an improving training for workforce development. in many cases these are new programs. in some cases the mandatory amounts are meant to supplement

7:27:01 to 7:27:21( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: funding currently provided through annual appropriations. regardless othe merits of these programs, madam president, the fact remains that we are faced with a debt problem of huge proportions. we have now closed the books on fiscal year 2009, finishing the

7:27:22 to 7:27:42( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: year with a budget defici of $1.4 trillion. we began fiscal year 2010 with a deficit o $176 billion for the month of october. our natnal debt has hit $12 trillion.

7:27:43 to 7:28:04( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: and soon congress will have to act to raise the federal debt ceiling again. president obama's own budget, optimistic in many respects, forecasts that our national debt will be rising to 66% of the gross domestic product by 2013.

7:28:05 to 7:28:26( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: the congressional budget office forecasts debt reaching 87% of g.d.p. in 2020 and increasing thereafter to even more alarming levels. given this setf facts, madam president, is it responsible to enact a bill that is expected to produce -- not guaranteed to

7:28:27 to 7:28:48( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: produce, but expected to produce a savings of $87 billion in mandatory spending, but then in the same legislation spends all but $8 billion of that anticipated savings on new prog existing -- expansions of

7:28:49 to 7:29:11( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: existing programs that could just as well be achieved through the annual appropriations process? is it responsible to advance a climate bill that spends tens of billions of dollars on new mandatory programs and to allocate funding among those programs for decades into the future when we have no ability to judge whether those programs

7:29:12 to 7:29:34( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: are really needed or effective or what different programs might be necessary depending on how climate legislation would affect our economy, our workforce, and our environment? can we afford to enact a health care bill that is long on new costly mandatory programs but short on cost savings that we

7:29:35 to 7:29:55( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: all know must be found within our health care system? mr. president, certainly there are situations where mandatory funding is an appropriate mechanism to dplifer government services. in cases where our goal is to provide a service to a certain group of eligible people, regardless of how many people

7:29:56 to 7:30:16( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: may be eligible in a given year, a mandatory appropriations may be the most efficient means of achieving that goal. given our nation's fiscal situation, however, it seems to me that we should strongly favor a procedure that requires congress to consider programmatic spending every year.

7:30:17 to 7:30:39( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: this is the very principle stated in paragraph 13 of rule 26 of the standing rules of the senate. this is not a question of which committee has the power over the purse. it is the question of whether congress will maintain the power over the purse and deliberately

7:30:40 to 7:31:00( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: exercise it. every year in appropriations bills, programs are terminated, reduced, or expanded, based on performance and the availability of resources punitive to the budget -- pursuant to the budget resolution. interest groups and program beneficiaries are required to

7:31:01 to 7:31:23( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: give us their views annually. the competion for available dollars is intense but so what? whether it is health care, climate change, education, or other legislation, congress should be very cautious about establishing new long-term

7:31:24 to 7:31:45( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: mandatory fundi streams because it fundamentally weakens our ability to control federal spending at a ti greatly need to exercise that control. i hope my colleagues will keep this in mind as we proceed with