[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 16, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6992-H6993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WASHINGTON WASTE WATCHERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a co-founder of the 
Washington Waste Watchers, a project of Republican freshmen dealing not 
with calorie counting but with counting all of the different wasteful 
programs of the Federal Government. We are dedicated to bringing the 
disinfectant of sunshine into the shadowy corners of the wasteful 
Washington bureaucracy. From this point forward we will be highlighting 
a myriad of examples of how the Federal Government routinely squanders 
the hard-earned money of the American families, and we will offer 
reforms to end these long-held Washington wasteful practices.

[[Page H6993]]

  Why is this initiative important now? Although we have heard some 
good economic news, positive economic growth, a growing stock market, a 
strong housing market, we have also heard some not-so-good economic 
news. The budget deficit is still too high.
  Now, Democrats say the only way to cut deficits is to raise taxes on 
the American family. Does that sound familiar? It is the same refrain 
we have heard from them for years. We have a deficit, but it is not 
because we are taxed too little. It is because Washington spends too 
much. And in Washington we have a spending problem, not a taxing 
problem; and much of this Washington spending, Mr. Speaker, is pure 
waste, fraud, and abuse.
  Recently, we passed a budget resolution in Congress asking every 
authorizing committee to make recommendations for eliminating waste, 
fraud, and abuse in their jurisdictional areas. We asked them to find 
savings equivalent to one percent of their budget. Something nobody 
ever does around here, find savings. We asked for only 1 percent and 
the Democrats fought us every step of the way, saying it is impossible 
to save money in Washington without gutting Federal programs.
  Mr. Speaker, they are wrong.
  Let me cite just a few examples. The Department of Housing and Urban 
Development made $2.6 billion in section 8 overpayments. Almost 10 
percent of their entire budget just disappeared into thin air. That is 
enough money to pay the down payment for 300,000 people to get into 
their first homes. Now, instead of using it to help families, the 
Washington bureaucracy just wasted it. And Democrats want to raise our 
taxes to pay for more of this?
  The Medicare program paid out $13.3 billion last year to people who 
did not even qualify for the program. That is enough money to pay one-
third of the cost of a prescription drug benefit program for our 
seniors this year. But instead of using the money to help seniors, the 
Washington bureaucracy just wasted it. And Democrats want to pay our 
taxes to pay for more of this?
  In another example, as you heard my colleague, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Feeney) say, the National Parks Service spent $800,000 on 
an outhouse and it does not even work. The only thing it flushes is the 
money of the hard-working American family down the drain. And Democrats 
want to raise our taxes to pay for more of this?
  The list goes on. Social Security pays benefits to dead people. Over 
the past 5 years, law enforcement has arrested over 7,000 fugitives who 
were illegally receiving food stamps. They include 1,500 accused drug 
offenders, 31 murderers, 45 sex offenders and child molesters, and 
hundreds wanted for assault and robbery. Over a 3-year period, the 
illegal food stamp practice known as trafficking has cost taxpayers 
$660 million. And Democrats want to raise our taxes to pay for more of 
this?
  Twenty-three percent of the people having their student loans 
discharged due to disability actually hold down full-time jobs, costing 
the Federal Government $40 million a year. And Democrats want to raise 
our taxes to pay for this?
  Medicare pays five times as much for a wheelchair as the Veterans 
Administration does. Five times as much for the same wheel chair? Why? 
Because the Veterans Administration will competitively bid the 
wheelchair and Medicare will not.
  Fortunately, the Republicans in the House just fixed this one without 
any help from the Democrats.
  Mr. Speaker, these are just a few examples of the Washington waste, 
and we are just scratching the surface. One can see that many Federal 
programs routinely waste 10, 20, even 30 percent of their taxpayer-
funded budgets and have for years.
  Mr. Speaker, in the real world if you lose that much money, you will 
go broke or you will go to jail; but in Washington it is just an excuse 
to ask for even more money from the taxpayer next year. Mr. Speaker, 
this has got to stop. There are a thousand different ways we can save 
money in Washington without cutting any needed services and without 
raising taxes on the hard-working American families. When it comes to 
Federal programs, it is not how much money Washington spends; it is how 
Washington spends our money. And that is what the Washington Waste 
Watchers is about.

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