Corker Critical Of Spending Bill; Alexander In Support

  • Sunday, December 14, 2014

Senator Bob Corker on Saturday released the following statement after voting against a spending bill known as a continuing resolution (H.R.83).

“I could not support this spending bill because it continues the regrettable precedent of spending above the budget levels established by the original Budget Control Act without proper offsets elsewhere in the budget,” said Senator Corker. “Next year, controlling both chambers of Congress, Republicans will have the opportunity to govern responsibly by passing individual appropriations bills with more oversight of how taxpayer dollars are being used.”

Senator Corker also commented on a Constitutional point of order raised by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

"While the president's executive actions on immigration are reprehensible and deserve a strong response, I value the oath I took to support and defend the Constitution too much to exploit it for political expediency,” said Senator Corker. “The Constitution gives Congress the power to fund the government so to assert that the House-passed spending bill is unconstitutional is not only inaccurate but irresponsible."

Senator Lamar Alexander voted in favor of the legislation to fund the federal government that “helps keep spending in check while supporting two projects that are crucial to Tennessee,” a proposal to build the world’s fastest supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12. Senator Alexander noted that the legislation complies with spending caps established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

“Fiscal responsibility is about setting priorities, and I voted for this legislation because it helps keep spending in check while supporting projects that are crucial to Tennessee, as well as our country’s economic competitiveness and national security,” said Senator Alexander, the top Republican on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development, which oversees funding for Oak Ridge and Y-12. “Once again having the world’s fastest supercomputer in the United States – and once again having it in Oak Ridge – will help us remain a center for advanced manufacturing and scientific breakthroughs. Providing both funding and oversight of the Uranium Processing Facility supports jobs and national security, and continues our mission of completing this project on time and on budget.”

The omnibus legislation passed by the Senate provides funding for most federal government agencies for fiscal year 2015, which extends until Oct. 1, 2015. In order to slow President Obama’s executive order granting amnesty to 5 million illegal immigrants, the legislation only extends funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 27, 2015.

At $1.014 trillion, the legislation complies with the budget caps that Congress passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and amended with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Senator Alexander noted that the legislation only affects discretionary spending – such as funding for national defense, national labs and national parks – which accounts for about 35 percent of the federal budget, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Mandatory spending, which is not controlled by appropriations legislation and includes entitlement programs, makes up about 60 percent of overall federal spending.

Senator Alexander continued, “Unfortunately, President Obama and the Democratic Senate majority have not worked with Republicans to address the real driver of the federal government’s nearly $18 trillion debt: out-of-control entitlement spending. I hope that changes with a new Republican Senate majority. We need to pass a plan like the Fiscal Sustainability Act I proposed with Senator Corker, which would reduce the growth of entitlement spending by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years.”

The funding for the supercomputer and the Uranium Processing Facility was part of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which Senator Alexander helped author. It included:

  • $104 million for supercomputing, following a November announcement by Senator Alexander and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz that Oak Ridge would build a supercomputer five times the speed of Titan, its machine.
  • $335 million for the Uranium Processing Facility, which processes enriched uranium for nuclear weapons systems. Senator Alexander has pushed to keep costs under control, in part through the Red Team review led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory director Thom Mason.
  • The closure of two facilities Senator Alexander said perform duties that are redundant and can be accomplished more cost effectively elsewhere, saving taxpayers $120 million over the next ten years. The first is the New Brunswick lab in New Jersey, which does work on radiation that is used in the calibration of radioactivity detection equipment and that Senator Alexander said can be done in various other parts of the federal government. The second is the closure of the Lujan Center in New Mexico, which performs scientific research with neutrons that Senator Alexander said can be done at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.


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