Planning Ahead

The House of Representatives will end its August recess and get back to work Sept. 7, leaving only 24 days in fiscal year 2011. When the House comes back its appropriators will have to consider the adjustments to the FY-12 appropriations bills imposed by the debt ceiling agreement and prepare to hammer out final appropriations bills with the Senate.

With that in mind, late on Friday House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) issued the following statement:

“The Appropriations Committee has repeatedly and successfully made significant spending cuts this year that have drastically changed the trajectory of federal spending, trimming billions of dollars and imposing strict spending reductions so we don’t leave our children with mountains of debt. We will continue to work in this vein -- in a bicameral manner -- prioritizing House-passed Appropriations bills in negotiations and completing our Appropriations work as soon as possible. It is imperative that the Congress complete these must-pass bills in a timely manner to avoid the harmful, destabilizing effects caused by a delayed and drawn out Appropriations process.

“In addition, my Committee members and I remain committed to the responsible 2012 spending level agreed to by the House, Senate, and White House under the recent debt ceiling agreement. The work we do on our Appropriations bills this year will fulfill this agreement by reducing discretionary spending from current levels – saving the taxpayers billions – and steering agency budgets across the federal government to more sustainable and responsible levels.”