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Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 3, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Budget and Spending Legislative Branch

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Mr. OBERNOLTE. Mr. Speaker, the House Budget Committee was constituted in 1974, and since then, not a single budget resolution has passed out of this Chamber without hearings and reasoned debate, until today.

Should H. Con. Res. 11 pass, it will be the first budget resolution in almost 50 years to pass this Chamber without a single hearing, without a single vote, without a single witness. We are being told that the reason for this is the need for quick action in response to additional stimulus and relief for the coronavirus crisis.

But Mr. Speaker, I have read this resolution. It is 55 pages. I can't find a single item in this resolution related to the coronavirus crisis.

Now we are being told that might be true. You see, this is just a shell that we pass this to the Senate, which triggers a lengthy and complex process of budget reconciliation.

But, Mr. Speaker, if our intent is to pass quick relief, and I think it should be, we could do that today. This Chamber has passed in the last 12 months almost $4 trillion of relief. Mr. Speaker, of that, over 25 percent, over $1 trillion, remains unspent. We could fix that today. We could fix that now, instead of relying on this lengthy and complex process of budget reconciliation.

Mr. Speaker, this is a serious topic. It deserves serious consideration, and not the violation of almost 50 years of protocol and procedure in this Chamber. I urge a ``no'' vote.

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