Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after voting for the Expedited Legislative Line Item Veto and Rescissions Act (H.R. 3521):
“One of the first votes the House took last year was to ban congressional earmarks. Since then, we have passed a number of bills that reduce federal spending and reform the budget process. This bill would allow the President to recommend budget cuts that Congress would then consider on an expedited basis with a straight up or down vote. In addition, any funds that are ‘vetoed’ would be used to reduce the federal deficit. My vote for this common sense, bipartisan approach to reducing spending is just one way I’m fulfilling my commitment to make the budget process more accountable to hardworking Arkansas taxpayers.”
Under Nancy Pelosi’s term as Speaker, non-defense discretionary spending increased by nearly 25 percent, or by 84 percent when funding for the President’s “stimulus” bill is included. Since then, Congress has reduced discretionary spending by $95 billion below fiscal year 2010 levels. H.R. 3521 would establish a procedure for Congress to consider presidential recommendations for reducing spending for specific programs in future spending bills. Under the expedited procedure, Congress would be required to consider proposals to rescind specific funding if the President submits his proposal within 45 days of the spending bill becoming law. This authority would expire on December 15, 2015.
