A Press Release From Mike Conaway

05 Jan, 2007 by John Hawkins

Print this article Font size -16+

I just received this press release and decided to post it because it shows that at least a few Republicans in DC seem to “get it” and because it’s nice to see that House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, whom I’ve always pigeonholed as a “business as usual” Republican, is actually a co-sponsor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this week, the House of Representatives convened to mark the beginning of the 110th Congress. The first order of legislative business was to consider H. Res. 6, which will adopt the House Rules for the 110th Congress. The House of Representatives is not a continuing body; it must reconstitute itself at the beginning of every new Congress, which requires the adoption of rules to govern the House.

Unfortunately, Democrats have not allowed amendments, nor any Republican input, to be brought to the floor as part of the House Rules package, therefore Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) introduced a “stand alone” rule changing resolution that, if enacted, would amend the House Rules.

“The Federal Government is spending money at an unsustainable rate,” said Conaway, a CPA and small businessman entering his second term in Congress. “Congress must do a better job of setting priorities. Reducing the deficit and controlling spending should be a top priority and in order to do that, we need to set up mechanisms that halt runaway government growth and spending.”

Conaway’s “No New Programs” resolution would change House rules on spending. The “No New Programs” rule change, which is co-sponsored by House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, would make it against House rules to create a new federal program without the elimination of an existing federal program of equal or greater cost. It would force Congress to make tough choices by only creating new programs if they are considered to be a higher priority than an existing program or programs.

Conaway concluded, “It is our responsibility to evaluate the spending process. This commonsense rule change proposal would be a step toward ensuring taxpayer money is being spent wisely. I am disappointed that this resolution was not included in the House Rules package today. Congress needs to get serious about healing Washington’s spending disease and I will continue to work on reforming how the federal government spends taxpayer money.”

Update #1: From the comments section:

“It’s actually a great idea. It’s a shame the Congressional Republicans didn’t think of it before the election, rather than now, when it has no chance of passing.” — Bill_Dalasio

“Agreed. It’s a day late and, well, a dollar short.” — seschub

They are a “day late and a dollar short,” but I’m of the opinion that the more applicable phrase would be, “better late than never.” They did a lot of things wrong in the last Congress, but now, at least they’re starting things off by doing something right.