Washington, DC (November 28, 2006) – Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15) today released the following statement regarding the $300 million in highway funding that Texas will lose due to nationwide rescissions of federal highway funding ordered by the U.S. Government.

“Today, several communities in Texas paid the price for the Administration’s continued push to fund the War in Iraq through emergency supplemental provisions rather than including the cost of the War in the regular budgetary process.

“Since the start of the War, Congress has been funding the operations in Iraq through Emergency Supplemental Appropriations.  This allows the Administration to circumvent the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 which requires Congress to find a way to pay for its expenditures.  By using the “Emergency Appropriations” clause, the House Republican Leadership and the Administration have been spending without detailing how or who would pay the bill.

“Because of this unaccounted spending, The Administration and the GOP Leadership have now ordered domestic spending cuts on funds that were already released to states. If we had properly planned for the War, we would know how much we were going to spend and this type of funding cut could have been avoided,” concluded Hinojosa.