Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Rep K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) made the following comments after voting in support of H.R. 3521, the Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act.

“It has been 1015 days since the Senate passed a budget.  To put that in perspective, the last time the Senate passed a budget – April 28, 2009 – no one had yet heard of the iPad.

“Based on their lack of action, Leader Reid and his majority in the Senate seem to believe that by ignoring our nation’s fiscal problems, they will eventually fix themselves – that is wrong.

“To fix this mess, Congress has to put the gimmicks aside and start working together to restore honesty in budgeting.

“With continued progress and a little effort from the Senate, we will be able to again look ahead with confidence to the world our children will inhabit.”

Background

H.R. 3521 is part of a package of 10 measures that Republicans introduced in December to fix the broken budget process.

The Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Recessions Act is a bipartisan bill that would give the President the authority to recommend spending cuts in appropriations bills.  That spending, which would be devoted to deficit reduction, would then go back to the House and Senate for and up-or-down vote.

The bill does not give the President the full authority to trim appropriations bills on his own because the Supreme Court found in 1998 that presidential line-item vetoes violate the Constitution.  Instead, the bill strikes a middle ground by giving the President the change to highlight areas of spending that should be cut and even hold back on that spending until Congress considers that request.

The President’s recommendations would be given privileged status in Congress so they could be quickly considered. 

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