In His Bid for Speaker, Palmer Announces Commonsense Principles Regarding House Business
Washington, D.C. – Continuing his candidacy for Speaker of the House, Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06) released the following statement and five commonsense principles regarding the way the House should conduct its business:
“Congress has been kicking the can down the road since before I was elected,” said Rep. Palmer. “We don’t need a person or a personality, we need a plan. That is what I can bring to the American people as Speaker of the House. My plan to bring stability back to the House consists of five commonsense points.”
Palmer’s Principles:
1. Fund the government on time with all single subject appropriations bills passing the House by June 30th
2. Real spending cuts, NOT budget gimmicks
3. No short term CRs
4. Enforce a true 72-hour rule allowing members and the American people time to review legislation
5. Unite the Republican Conference before going to the House floor
Rep. Palmer continued, “The American people deserve a Republican Conference that is unified, transparent, and committed to the job. Before we vote tomorrow, every candidate should commit to these principles.”
Details on the Palmer Principles:
1. Fund the government on time with all single subject appropriations bills passing the House by June 30th
- Eliminate the arbitrary May 15th deadline prohibiting consideration of appropriations bills under the Congressional Budget Act.
- Prevent the House from considering other legislation if we have not passed 12 appropriations bills by June 30th
- Prevent the House from bringing up any other legislation sent over from the Senate if they have not passed their 12 bills by July 30th
- Prevent the House from recessing after July 31st if we have not passed our 12 appropriations bills
- Provide for a national security exception with a 2/3rd vote
2. Real spending cuts, NOT budget gimmicks
- With the national debt over $33 trillion, we do not have time to hide behind gimmicks. We need to reduce the actual spending, not just slow the rate of our out-of-control spending.
3. No short term CRs
- If all of the appropriations bills are not passed by September 30th, we will have a self-executing CR until April 15th.
- No more kicking the can down the road to just before major holidays as a tactic to pressure members into voting for a bad legislative spending package.
4. Enforce a true 72-hour rule allowing members and the American people time to review legislation
- For too long, Congress has released thousand-page bills in the middle of the night and expected members and the American public to be informed by the next day. The American people deserve to have ample time to review legislation and the confidence that their representatives have done the same.
5. Unite the Republican Conference before going to the House floor
- Decentralize the legislative process and prioritize individual members’ policy priorities.