[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 74 (Monday, May 19, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S6598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTROLLING FEDERAL SPENDING
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, the FY2004 budget resolution adopted last
month includes a provision to uncover waste, fraud and abuse in Federal
Government spending. Today marks the beginning of a transparent and
deliberative process that will be undertaken by Committees in the House
and Senate to control Federal spending.
Specifically, the budget resolution requires the Chairman of the
Committee on the Budget in both the House and Senate to place in the
Congressional Record specified levels of savings for each authorizing
committee. Chairman Nussle and I have developed a joint set of targets
that requests each authorizing committee to report back with
recommended savings proposals amounting to 1 percent of the committee's
total mandatory spending. I will work with Senate committees to ensure
that the savings target meaningfully represents the opportunities to
find improvements in the programs under each committee's jurisdiction.
Pursuant to section 301(b) of H. Con. Res. 95, I submit the following
specified levels of savings for Senate Committees. Given these savings
targets, the budget resolution further requires committees to submit,
by September 2, 2003, to the Budget Committee their findings that
identify changes in law within their jurisdiction that would produce
the specified savings. The reports submitted by committees will guide
us in the preparation of future budget resolutions and will help us all
improve program oversight.
It is my hope that the committees will enthusiastically join Chairman
Nussle and me in this effort to root out waste, fraud and abuse. As
trustees of taxpayer dollars, Members of Congress must insist that
limited resources not be squandered. Federal spending has been growing
at unsustainable levels. Congress cannot become lax in its duty to
perform the necessary oversight on Federal spending.
Often we find that Federal programs--ignored over time--become
susceptible to waste, fraud or abuse. For example, according to a
General Accounting Office report released in January of this year,
Medicaid has been added for the first time to the GAO's high-risk list,
``owing to the program's size, growth, diversity, and fiscal management
weaknesses.''
Limited oversight has afforded States and health care providers the
opportunity to increase Federal funding inappropriately. States are
able to take advantage of funding schemes which supplant State Medicaid
dollars with Federal Medicaid dollars by overpaying State-owned
facilities and requiring the local government to transfer the excess
back to the State. These dollars are then siphoned away from Medicaid
patients and often are used for other purposes. Without proper
oversight this and other program abuses can persist for years.
Other recent examples of abuse include a finding by the Inspector
General of the Department of Education that nearly 23 percent of
student loan recipients whose loans were discharged due to disability
claims were gainfully employed. Additionally, the Office of Management
and Budget has estimated that more than $8 billion in erroneous earned
income tax payments are made each year. These situations are
unacceptable. The work that the Senate and House will undertake will
result in reforms in these and other instances of misspent Federal
resources.
Chairman Nussle and I have put in place a project specifically
designed to draw upon the knowledge and experience of Senate experts in
these programs. The savings resulting from this effort will not be
arbitrary; they will be developed through sound and thoughtful
considerations by those who know the programs best. I look forward to
working with all the committee chairmen who will be reporting their
findings and am committed to making this a success.
I ask unanimous consent that the above-mentioned spending levels be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
SAVINGS FROM 1 PERCENTAGE POINT REDUCTION IN MANDATORY SPENDING BY AUTHORIZING COMMITTEE
[By fiscal year in billions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate: 2004 2004-08 2004-13
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry............................... BA -0.603 -3.162 -6.568
OT -0.563 -2.982 -6.251
Armed Services.................................................... BA -0.778 -4.201 -9.178
OT -0.777 -4.195 -9.165
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs............................... BA -0.139 -0.719 -1.436
OT -0.017 -0.058 -0.092
Commerce, Science, and Transportation............................. BA -0.117 -0.601 -1.244
OT -0.074 -0.382 -0.807
Energy and Natural Resources...................................... BA -0.027 -0.118 -0.218
OT -0.024 -0.108 -0.201
Environment and Public Works...................................... BA -0.264 -1.493 -3.018
OT -0.023 -0.106 -0.195
Finance........................................................... BA -7.340 -41.323 -98.601
OT -7.379 -41.407 -98.735
Foreign Relations................................................. BA -0.100 -0.599 -1.289
OT -0.119 -0.563 -1.181
Governmental Affairs.............................................. BA -0.831 -4.518 -10.042
OT -0.816 -4.446 -9.904
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions............................. BA -0.080 -0.471 -1.016
OT -0.072 -0.433 -0.944
Judiciary......................................................... BA -0.085 -0.324 -0.621
OT -0.079 -0.326 -0.618
Veterans' Affairs................................................. BA -0.342 -1.833 -3.864
OT -0.341 -1.827 -3.852
---------------------------------------------
Total......................................................... BA -10.706 -59.362 -137.095
OT -10.284 -56.833 -131.945
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Note.--Section 301(d) of H. Con. Res. 95 does not include Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee
on Rules and Administration, the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Committee on Small Business.
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