Restoring fiscal sanity

By U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman 
R-Arkansas

A big topic of discussion across Congress as of late is the upcoming deadline on the Continuing Resolution that was passed in November which reopened the government after the historic shutdown. As Jan. 31 looms closer and closer, it is incredibly important to work efficiently in order to pass the remaining appropriations packages so that Congress can get back to funding the government through the regular order process.

One of Congress’ primary functions is to act as the purse-holder for our nation’s finances. This means we have the ability to determine how our taxpayer dollars will be spent. It is important to steward American’s hard-earned tax dollars to the best of our ability.

It’s just plain, common sense that if you are given someone else’s money, it should be spent in a fiscally responsible way. When Congress continues to kick the can down the road every year when it comes to crafting our nation’s budget, we are not doing our job to take care of what American taxpayers have trusted us with.

This week, the House voted to pass three more appropriations bills through a minibus bill – meaning all three individual pieces of legislation were packaged together under one vote. This is oftentimes done in order to efficiently pass funding bills when there is a quickly approaching deadline. 

By passing the Commerce Justice Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, House Republicans have secured further funding for our programs that assist law enforcement in addressing the opioid crisis, illegal immigration, and other vital legislation that protects our communities.

Through the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act passage, funds have been allotted to safeguard our national security, unleash American energy dominance, and advance economic competitiveness. 

And with the passage Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, House Republicans are further committing to unleash American energy, ensure access to public lands, promote the reversal of harmful Biden-era rules that hamstrung farmers and industries, and restore agency funding levels.

With six down and six more to go, the House’s vote on this week’s Appropriations package was an excellent step in the right direction toward passing a complete Fiscal Year 26 Budget. It’s been far too long since Congress has passed the entire federal budget through the regular order process and unfortunately this broken system of Continuing Resolutions and government shutdowns has become the expected. It’s time to put that era to an end once and for all. 

House Republicans are determined to bring sanity back to the budget process in the 119th Congress, and I’m hopeful that as we near our deadline at the end of this month, we can take one step further on the road to fiscal sanity.

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