Congress passes huge spending bill

Amid extensive bipartisan complaint over having to pass eight appropriations bills in one 3,825-page package, the House and Senate passed the 40-pound omnibus spending bill, clearing the way for members to leave town for the year.

The House passed the bill 333-95 Tuesday night, and the Senate approved it on a 65-29 vote this morning.

"This bill is here because of a massive institutional failure," House Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis., told members. He accused Republican leaders of attempting to run a partisan appropriations process, leading to massive gridlock on several bills.

"We are in this mess because this Congress did not do its job," he said, adding that members were forced to accept this bill. "Thanks to the incredible mismanagement we have seen in this Congress, we have no choice," he said, while declaring, "This Congress ought to be ashamed of itself."

Republican critics were no less blunt. "Nobody has read this bill," said Rep. Jon Christensen, R-Neb. "This is a sham. This is an embarrassment."

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La., said he could not defend the process, contending that he had wanted to pass all 13 appropriations bills individually. However, he added that members "should not concentrate on process. They should concentrate on substance."

Livingston said the bill comes under the fiscal 1999 spending caps, although that calculation does not include some $20 billion in spending that was designated as emergencies or programs that were forward-funded. He said Republicans should be proud of their accomplishments. "We will go home knowing that we achieved the first balanced budget in 30 years," he said, adding that Congress "restored fiscal integrity to the treasury for the first time in a century."

While Obey blamed Republicans-particularly members of the Conservative Action Team-for causing deadlock in the process, a member of the CATs said House Republican leaders should be held accountable for the failure.

"The discipline to put the bills on the floor should have been there," said Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. "That's what leadership is all about." He said that while Republican leaders did not do a bad job of negotiating, "There's going to be an accounting for the process." Conservatives also said the bill spends far too much money.

However, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., defended the bill, saying opponents were members of the "perfectionist caucus." He said a "liberal Democrat" controls the White House, adding, "If we don't work together on big issues, nothing gets done."

Some Senators were no more happy about the process. Several Senate conferees did not sign the conference report. And Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., called the bill a "gargantuan monstrosity." He added, "Someone once said that Bismarck talked about making sausage, that making legislation is like making sausage. Don't kid yourself. I have made sausage, and I can tell you that what we did this year is significantly more sloppy."

Lisa Caruso also contributed to this article.