"No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." - US Constitution Article I, Section 9, Clause 7.

House Appropriations Committee

Ranking Member for the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment
which includes jurisdiction over the following:

Subcommittee on Interior and Environment includes oversight over the following:

• Department of the Interior   (Except Bureau of  Reclamation and Central  Utah Project)
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (HHS)
• Chemical Safety and  Hazard Investigation Board
• Commission of Fine Arts
• Council on Environmental Quality and Office of Environmental Quality
• Forest Service (USDA)
• Indian Health Service
• Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development
• John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• National Capital Planning Commission
• National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities  (Except Institute of  Museum and Library Services)
• National Gallery of Art
• National Institute of  Environmental Health Sciences (HHS, formerly  EPA/Superfund)
• Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation
• Presidio Trust
• Smithsonian Institution
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Eisenhower Memorial Commission
• Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
includes jurisdiction over the following:

• Department of Energy
• Corp of Engineers
• Bureau of Reclamation
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Economic Regulatory Administration
• Energy Information Administration
• DOE Office of Hearings and Appeals
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve
• Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves
• Fossil Energy Research and Development
• Clean Coal Technology
• Energy Conservation
• Alternative Fuels Production
• Elk Hills School Lands Fund
• Alaska Gas Pipeline Authorities
• Weatherization Assistance Grants

House Budget Committee

Every year Congress begins its biggest task – setting a budget and appropriating funds to run the federal government. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have direct involvement in this process that begins in February when the President submits his budget to Congress and usually ends in November when the President signs each bill into law. This 1000 plus page document details overall spending levels for the President’s priorities. The House and Senate Budget Committees also set their budget blue prints of proposed spending. Much like setting your expenses for your household budget these figures serve as a guideline for spending, but actual expenditures may be higher or lower in certain areas.

The budget sets spending levels for discretionary spending – areas where the funding levels can go up and down according to need. Most of the federal budget – about two-thirds -- is made up of “mandatory” spending or entitlement spending. This spending goes to programs that occur automatically under formulas determined by Congress for areas such as Social Security, Medicare, some veterans and agriculture programs. The remaining one-third, which essentially goes for running the government — has to be written every year into at least 10 "regular" appropriations bills. These funds are used for areas such as defense, homeland security, the Department of Energy, education, transportation, wildlife programs, public lands, military construction, the District of Columbia, housing, and veterans.

In March and April, members of Congress submit their requests to each of the 10 appropriation subcommittees for the next fiscal year. Before being submitted to House and Senate appropriators each Idaho request is scrutinized and evaluated. Then, the Idaho delegation, known as one of the most fiscally conservative in the nation, submits its requests as a unit to each committee. Appropriations bills are then crafted in both the House and the Senate. The bills must pass in subcommittee, in the full appropriations committee and then on the respective floor. Once each chamber has gone through this process, the House and Senate hold a conference committee to work out differences in each bill. The bills are then sent back to each chamber for approval and finally to the president’s desk. If the regular appropriation acts are not completed by October 1, (the end of the current fiscal year) then Congress must adopt a continuing resolution to provide stop-gap funding. In some years, instead of adopting all 10-appropriation bills individually, Congress may include several in an omnibus appropriation measure, or a continuing appropriation bill.

Read the Congressional Research Service report on the appropriations process (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).