[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 16, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6991-H6992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MISAPPROPRIATIONS OF TAXPAYER FUNDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Feeney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FEENEY. Mr. Speaker, there are several gentlemen from Florida 
here tonight, including my cohort and friend Mario Diaz-Balart, along 
with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) and a lot of the 
Republican freshman class. We have been very concerned, as we review 
the last 5 or 6 or 8 years' worth of Federal spending, about some, 
really, misappropriations that are going on. It is very bothersome.

[[Page H6992]]

  I will tell my colleagues that Ronald Reagan once defined the 
American taxpayer as somebody that worked for the Federal Government 
but did not have to take the civil service exam. Unfortunately, that is 
all too often too true.
  The Americans for Tax Reform group actually estimates, based on 
economic estimates, that the average American has to work this year 193 
days, well into July, just to pay their cost of Federal, State, and 
local taxes and regulations. That is obscene. It is a big problem.
  I will tell my colleagues that P.J. O'Rourke once said that trusting 
your money to government bureaucrats and politicians was a little bit 
like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. It is just a bad 
idea.
  So I am delighted to join the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart) and most of the 
Republican freshman class who enthusiastically have said we are going 
to come down here to the well on a regular basis every week and we are 
going to talk about some of the outrageous misexpenditures of our 
constituents' money that offend us so badly.
  We are grateful for the fact that we can stand here and talk to 
people around the country about the fact that we want every politician 
that serves with us and every bureaucrat and administrator that serves 
with us to know one thing: They do not want to be the victim of next 
week's most outrageous expenditure. They do not want to be, if you are 
the procurement officer in a specific government agency, the topic of 
the major speech that week. We intend to, for example, have some awards 
for the most outrageous abuse of taxpayers' dollars.
  Now, I will tell my colleagues that 2 years ago there was at least 
$17 billion worth of expenditures for which there was no 
accountability. The agencies that spent the money could not tell us 
what happened to the money.
  Aside from misexpenditures, there is the problem of duplication. We 
have a homeless problem in America, but there is something wrong when 
there are over 50 different Federal agencies dealing with the issue of 
the homeless. The duplication of services is a big problem.
  We will regularly be coming and talking to our colleagues about the 
Washington Waste Watchers led by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario 
Diaz-Balart), led by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), led by 
the Republican freshman class in 2003 to talk about how we can make 
government more accountable to all of our taxpayers.

                              {time}  2100

  I will tell you that, finally, there is something fundamentally wrong 
when, for example, the National Parks Service 4 years ago purchased an 
outhouse, a place where people could relieve themselves, and spent more 
than $800,000. Imagine that. Think for a second about what the bears 
did in that park, in that forest; but we spent $800,000 for people to 
relieve themselves.
  We want everybody in charge of government dollars to know we will be 
here on a daily basis, on a weekly basis reminding them that we know 
spending other people's money is an intoxicating experience, but we 
intend to hold you accountable.

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