New video: South Sound coho fishery

Congress has passed a stopgap spending measure intended to keep the government operating past the end of FY 2005, and Bush signed it in the waning hours of FY 2005, which ended at midnight, September 30. The resolution (HJR 68) will keep the government running through Nov. 18. Although most House Democrats backed the stopgap spending plan, they took the opportunity to highlight growth in the federal budget deficit. Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-MD, said he was voting for the measure because a government shutdown was unacceptable. “However, our enactment of this legislation must not be construed as an exoneration of the sheer fiscal mismanagement of this Republican Congress,” he said, noting that the GOP “obsession with tax cuts at a time of war and its unwillingness to make hard choices” has led to huge budget deficits. The stopgap measure prohibits agencies from initiating or resuming programs not funded in FY 2005 and from awarding new grants, (though there is an exception for activities in Iraq). The stopgap measure sets spending for other programs at the FY 2005 rate, the House-passed level for FY 2006 or the Senate-passed level, whichever is lowest. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-WV, said, “Here we go again, yes, here we go again. This is deja vu all over again. Is this the way to run a government? It is unfortunate that most of the regular programs of the departments and agencies of government will limp into the new fiscal year, under the terms of a very restrictive continuing resolution.”