[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 110 (Tuesday, July 15, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6261-H6284]
FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2015
[...]
Amendment Offered by Mr. Frelinghuysen
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. The amount otherwise provided by this Act for
``National Security Council and Homeland Security Council--
Salaries and Expenses'' for the National Security Council is
hereby reduced by $4,200,000.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 661, the gentleman
from New Jersey and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would reduce the
amount available for the National Security Council staff by $4.2
million, or by approximately one-third.
The National Security Council staff is the President's staff. They
serve solely to provide advice to the President on national security
matters. They have no authority to manage programs. They have no
authority to allocate funds or otherwise decide spending levels. And
they have no authority to determine or dictate congressional access to
classified information involving sensitive military matters or
operations. As the President's staff, it is appropriate that they are
accountable to him, just as our staff is only accountable to us.
Therefore, they are not subject to congressional questioning nor other
forms of oversight.
Over the past few years, the size of the National Security Council's
staff has grown, and it appears that they have moved beyond their
Presidential advisory role to involve themselves in decisions which are
not in their purview. Over the last few months, we have had several
instances in which the National Security staff has mandated that the
Department of Defense and other agencies selectively withhold
information from congressional oversight committees.
While the President has constitutional authority as Commander in
Chief to provide for the Nation's defense, this Congress was vested
exclusively with the constitutional authority to fund that defense, a
constitutional authority that is vested in the Appropriations
Committee.
Mr. Chairman, it is important that all appropriate oversight
committees are not restricted from the information they need to have to
do their jobs.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the
time in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, although I am not
opposed to it.
The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from Indiana is
recognized for 5 minutes.
There was no objection.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the recognition, and I
would strongly emphasize that I join with my chairman and colleague
from New Jersey in support of his amendment. So that there is clarity
as to the purpose of his offering this amendment, I would reiterate two
of his remarks.
Over the last few months, we have had several instances in which
National Security staff has mandated that the Department of Defense and
other agencies selectively withhold information from congressional
oversight committees, and in one case specifically, excluding the
Appropriations Committee. As the chairman rightfully pointed out, the
Congress is vested exclusively with the constitutional authority to
fund that defense, and the authority in this instance rests with the
Appropriations Committee.
The committee has included clear direction in the Fiscal Year 2014
Defense
[[Page H6263]]
Appropriations Act and in the House-passed Defense Appropriations bill
for fiscal year 2015 for the Department to report on the conduct of
various programs as well as the obligation and expenditure of
associated funding.
{time} 1715
This direction addresses not only funds expressly provided in the
Department's appropriations bill but Department actions that may cause
the reprogramming of funds provided by the Congress.
Accurate, complete, and timely reporting by the Department of Defense
is essential for the committee to conduct its oversight
responsibilities. It informs committee deliberations to prepare the
annual appropriations bills. It helps prepare the committee for
negotiations with the Senate, and at present, it will help the
committee formulate recommendations on the recently submitted fiscal
year 2015 budget amendment on the overseas contingency operations.
The committee's responsibilities for funding are specific. Article I,
section 9 of the Constitution states:
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in
consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all
public money shall be published from time to time.
I strongly urge the adoption of the gentleman's amendment, which
underscores the constitutional prerogative of the Congress as well as
of the Committee on Appropriations.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Let me thank Chairman Crenshaw and Ranking Member
Serrano for this opportunity to propose this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield the remainder of my time to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), the chairman of the committee.
Mr. CRENSHAW. I thank the chairman for yielding and for bringing this
to the attention of the full House. I will refer to the gentleman as
``chairman'' because I have the pleasure of serving on the Defense
Subcommittee, and he acts as the chairman of that.
Mr. Chairman, as the chairman has said, the National Security Council
and the National Security Adviser have gotten into a bad habit, I
think, of bypassing the Appropriations Committee, including the
chairman of the Defense Subcommittee and the ranking member of the
subcommittee, when it comes to issues of national security. I can tell
you firsthand that I have had situations in which I have asked for an
update on some matters, and they haven't been followed up on.
I want to thank the chairman for his leadership in all things
defense. I want to encourage my colleagues to follow his lead, and I
urge that we adopt this amendment.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen).
The amendment was agreed to.
[...]
