WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) issued the following statement on the Senate's final passage of a $1.07 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government through September. The Senate passed the legislation 79 to 18.
"It is a disservice to our constituents for Congress to pass a thousand-page, trillion-dollar spending bill that could not be amended or sufficiently scrutinized. I voted against it because the bill fails to rein in excessive government spending and neglects to tackle out-of-control regulatory agencies.
"This funding bill is the result of a broken process. The Senate was forced today to pass one, giant, trillion-dollar bill, on the eve of funding expiration, because our Democrat colleagues refused to allow us to even consider individual appropriation bills last year-even though those bills had been successfully voted out of committee with wide bipartisan support. The responsible way to fund the government is incrementally, by categories, after scrutiny and the opportunity to amend, but the Democrats refused to allow us to even conduct debate on individual appropriation bills. I urge my colleagues to restore a responsible and transparent process for funding the government."
