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Press Releases
U.S. Congressman Ralph Norman Introduces Legislation to Help Control Needless Spending
Washington, D.C.,
November 21, 2019
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Austin Livingston
(803-833-0030)
Tags:
Spending Cuts and Debt
On Thursday, U.S. Congressman Ralph Norman (SC-05) introduced the "AFTER Appropriations Act," which would require Congress to vote on Presidential rescission requests within an expedited time frame.
Under current law, the President can submit recommended rescissions to Congress to eliminate unnecessary or wasteful spending. Congress, however, is not required to act on those requests. The AFTER Act would ensure that the House or Senate majority leader, or a designee, introduce an approval bill with the President's rescissions. It would also require a fast-tracked, up-or-down vote on that approval bill with no amendments, filibusters, or motions to reconsider.
The AFTER Act will ensure that Congress retains its "power of the purse" and all legislative authority by either approving or disapproving of these Presidential rescission requests. Additionally, this bill does not allow for an executive line-item veto, which was deemed unconstitutional in Clinton v. City of New York in 1998. Instead, this legislation simply requires the House and Senate vote on the proposed rescissions, while maintaining the balance of power between the President and Congress.
Rep. Norman released the following statement:
"Our federal government has an enormous spending problem. Presidential rescission requests are a valuable tool to help control needless spending, because it can be easier for the Executive Branch to identify waste than those of us in Congress.
"However, a major flaw in the President's rescission authority is that Congress is under no obligation to formally consider the recommendations provided by the President. This bill would change that, and would be a small but important step in getting our federal spending under control."
Co-sponsors of the AFTER Appropriations Act include Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10), Rep. Kevin Hern (OK-01), Rep. Bill Johnson (OH-06). Also co-sponsoring this bill is Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05), who issued this statement:
"I've said this many times, but it always bears repeating: the $23 trillion debt is an existential threat to our nation's security. While there are many things we can do to return to the path of fiscal sanity, the AFTER Act is one excellent starting point. The premise behind this bill is simple: if the President identifies money the government isn't using, Congress should have the right to vote expeditiously to claw back these funds.
"I encourage all my colleagues to support this common sense legislation. The sooner we are able to find budgetary savings—big and small —the more quickly we can crawl out of the fiscal pit we're in."
The AFTER Appropriations Act has received the endorsement of both Heritage Action and the National Taxpayers Union.
"With soaring deficits, it's clear that Washington has a serious spending problem. Put simply, our government spends too many precious taxpayer dollars on wasteful projects and programs that don't work. Thankfully, the AFTER Act would give federal policymakers an invaluable tool to fight inefficient spending and prioritize fiscal responsibility." - National Taxpayers Union
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