Saying that his warnings of gridlock may once again be confirmed, Rep. George Gekas, R-Pa., plans to renew a push for legislation authorizing a permanent continuing resolution in case any of the 13 annual appropriations bills are not signed into law by the end of the fiscal year.
Key Republican aides said there are no plans to consider the Gekas legislation after the August recess. But Gekas said he and supporters of his legislation plan to meet with House Republican leaders and will attempt to place the bill on the agenda for a full GOP Conference meeting. "This idea can only be fired up if the leadership adopts it as a method of completing business for this term," he said.
"My bill guarantees we will never be without a budget," Gekas said in an interview. "It's good to have a fallback position when we come to the end of the fiscal year."
For the past several years, Gekas has pushed various forms of his legislation. He said that, in its current form, his bill would automatically continue funding of appropriations bills at the previous fiscal year's level until those bills are passed and signed. Republicans had pushed the bill as part of an FY97 supplemental bill for disaster relief, but the Clinton administration strongly opposed the measure.
Gekas acknowledged that some appropriators remain opposed to it as well, arguing that it decreases their leverage in negotiations. "But my proposition buys them time," he said. Gekas added that he often says that if GOP leaders had heeded his warnings, the Congress and President Clinton might not be headed for an appropriations showdown at the end of the year. "I mutter it going down the hall," Gekas said. "I say, 'I told you so. I told you so.' But nobody listens."
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