Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

One of the main responsibilities of Congress is to pass annual spending bills that fund the federal government.  These 12 bills allow federal government agencies to provide for our national defense, health care for veterans, basic science research and development, certain education initiatives, border security, and management of our federal lands, among other things.

When Congress does not pass the 12 bills by October 1, when a new fiscal year begins, the federal government is funded by "continuing resolutions," also known as CRs.

Congress has not yet passed final spending bills for fiscal year 2011(FY11)—so government services have been funded for the past nearly five months by a series of short-term CRs. The most recent CR included $4 billion in federal spending cuts, and is set to expire on March 18.

(CRs should not to be confused with the president's budget proposal for FY 2012, which is released months in advance of an upcoming fiscal year; President Obama just released his requests for fiscal year 2012.)