Lisa Murkowski: I Never Want To See Another Rescissions Package Ever Again

During a Senate Appropriations Committee markup meeting on Thursday, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) spoke about the rescissions bill.

Transcript

00:00Senator Murkowski.

00:02Madam Chair, I will be brief.

00:04I appreciate what you have said.

00:06And when we had this matter before us in a previous markup,

00:10my objection was on jurisdictional grounds as has been shared here and repeated.

00:16And I think that is appropriate.

00:19But I do want to acknowledge the words of Senator Gillibrand

00:23because I feel very strongly myself that we do have this role.

00:27It is this power of the purse.

00:30It is our Article I authorities that we should take seriously.

00:34I don't object when the administration says,

00:37here's some proposed rescissions.

00:40That's certainly their prerogative to work to try to identify.

00:43And it's then incumbent upon us.

00:45How do we handle that?

00:46Madam Chair, you noted that we have many, many rescissions that we have

00:54or that we're operating under within this continuing resolution,

00:58just within my subcommittee alone in interior appropriations.

01:03I think, to my colleague, I think we have about $91 million in rescissions in our interior bill,

01:10if my memory serves me right.

01:12So we are working exactly that process.

01:15And so my hope, my hope, this Senator's hope,

01:21is that we do not see another rescissions package from the administration,

01:26that they do allow us to do the important and the necessary work

01:30and the work that we're doing to identify those areas

01:33where we can find those reductions in spending.

01:37Do it smartly.

01:38Do it fully informed.

01:40You might not have them in front of you, but if you go through the materials

01:47that our committees can certainly make available,

01:50we can identify to you those programs and exactly how that has,

01:55that will be impacted going forward.

01:58That was the challenge that I had with that last rescissions package

02:02that we saw on the floor and that passed on a wholly partisan basis.

02:11If we're going to do rescissions, I think the way to do them

02:14is the way that we're doing them here on a bipartisan basis.

02:17That's smart.

02:18And to your point, Senator Gillibrand,

02:20I think that's one of the reasons that we haven't seen a successful rescissions package

02:24from the White House for 33 years until this year.