Conservative and Taxpayer Groups Back Congressional Budget Reform
May 10, 2004
The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the House
H-232 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Hastert:
During the fiscal 2005 budget resolution negotiations, an agreement was reached to bring enforcement legislation to the floor of the House. On behalf of the millions of taxpayers represented by the undersigned organizations, we urge you to do so as soon as possible. We consider H.R. 3800, the Family Budget Protection Act, to be the “Gold Standard” for budget enforcement reform. The provisions of H.R. 3800 should be added to H.R. 3973, Chairman Nussle’s budget enforcement legislation, which provides pay-go for spending but not tax cuts, a position we all support. As a less desirable but essential alternative, the Rules Committee should allow the measures found in H.R. 3800 to be offered as amendments on the floor of the House. We consider the following to be the most essential:
• Joint Budget Resolution: Convert the concurrent budget resolution into a joint budget resolution that is signed into law by the President;
• Point of Order Protection: Amend the rules of the House so that any rule waiving applicable spending points of order would also face a point of order;
• Entitlement Cap: Limit growth in entitlement spending to the current inflationary adjustment for each program and population growth;
• Family Budget Protection Accounts: Allow Congress to target spending during the appropriations and direct spending processes and allow that spending to be redirected for deficit reduction; and,
• Enhanced Rescission: The rescission process would be enhanced so the President can propose the elimination of wasteful spending in appropriations bills and these proposals would be given expedited legislative consideration.
The enforcement legislation must be undertaken for several reasons. First, our collective membership has expressed dismay and frustration over the current spending habits of Congress for some time. They expected better fiscal stewardship from a Republican Congress. Second, you may be aware of the results of the March 28-31 Battleground 2004 election poll of registered likely voters. The results found that voters believe House Democrats would do a better job of holding down spending than House Republicans.
We know these numbers concern you as a member of the House leadership. Given the limited time left to consider legislation, a vote on substantial budget enforcement reform will be one of the few opportunities to demonstrate that Congress is serious about reducing spending, the deficit, and the growth of government. A fortunate drop of $100 billion in the projected deficit, due mostly to increased tax receipts, is not enough to mollify the grassroots. Action is required, and it must not consist of a token vote on pay-go alone, without additional reforms.
As House leaders, the question is whether you want this Congress to be remembered for allowing the spending and the size of government to grow out-of-control or whether you want it to be remembered for bringing back fiscal restraint and fixing the budget process. In light of the importance we are placing on this issue, our organizations will be considering all votes on budget enforcement reform in our 2004 ratings of Congress.
Sincerely,
David Keene, Chairman
The American Conservative Union
Grover Norquist, President
Americans for Tax Reform
Paul Beckner, President
Citizens for a Sound Economy
Thomas Schatz, President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
John Berthoud, President
National Taxpayers Union
