Statement Requesting
Revisions to the 1988 Fiscal Year Budget Appropriations
In
my State of the Union Address, I said I would send back to Congress examples of
spending items that are wasteful, unnecessary, and low priority,
and that if I had a line-item veto I would have struck from the legislation.
That list is being formally transmitted to the Congress today. I urge the
Congress to review these items and rescind, repeal, or amend them as soon as
possible.
The
items I have chosen represent only the more excessive examples from the
continuing resolution itself. I have not included fundamental policy
differences, such as major program terminations, that I have with the Congress.
Nor have I included the many earmarks that appear in the report language
accompanying the appropriations. The report itself is never sent to me and, as
the Supreme Court has said, has no force of law. In fact, I am directing all
executive agencies to provide a full justification before they expend any funds
to comply with these earmarks. And I am not including even more items tucked
away inside the other piece of legislation I received in December, the
reconciliation bill, that actually increase the deficit without benefit to the
taxpayers.
I
believe the American people can see by this exercise why I have consistently
appealed for a line-item veto. We need to restore some discipline to our budget
process. Does the Congress have the discipline to vote on these projects and
take this next step?
As
I have said, I have limited this initial list, and as a result -- while it will
have an immediate beneficial effect -- it will not, by itself, solve our budget
problems. I urge the Congress to take the necessary action on this limited list
in order to avoid these unnecessary expenditures of taxpayers' dollars. It is
another step on the road to a balanced budget, a demonstration in discipline.
Perhaps, having taken this step, we can move even further.