[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 107 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         WORKING GROUP ON WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE SPECIAL ORDER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TRENT FRANKS

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2003

  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, President Calvin Coolidge wisely 
said, ``The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who 
bear the cost of the government. Every dollar we carelessly waste means 
that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we 
prudently save means that their life will be so much the more 
abundant.''
  Mr. Speaker, the men and women of this country deserve fiscal 
responsibility and careful spending. They deserve the peace of mind 
that comes from knowing that we are doing all we can to prudently save, 
and we are working to find ways to ensure life more abundant.
  I believe every department of government can and must examine ways to 
more efficiently use taxpayer dollars to improve the lives of all 
Americans. Today I would like to discuss specifically just one: the 
Department of Education.
  Citizens Against Government Waste say, ``the Department [of 
Education] now employs nearly 5,000 people, close to 1000 percent 
increase from 1979, yet ED spending for public schools accounts for 
less than 6 percent of total education spending. There are currently 
780 education programs spread throughout 39 Federal agencies, costing 
taxpayers $100 billion annually . . . In addition, the average amount 
spent on each public school student has skyrocketed. In 1965, the 
average SAT score was 980 and slightly less than $3,000 was spent per 
student. More than 30 years later, the average SAT score is 910 and 
about $6,500 is spent per pupil.''
  The reckless swelling of this Department is not an indication of 
success. Our children deserve money better spent, that is, taxpayer 
dollars going for what they were intended: a quality education. Pouring 
more money into a deficit system will not improve education. Instead, 
it will further weaken the kind of education that our young people 
deserve.
  In the state of Arizona, the average cost of an hour of tutoring at 
the Sylvan Learning Center is $40. Ending the practice of fraudulent 
disability loan deferment represents what could be one billion hours of 
private tutoring, quality one-on-one hours that could potentially make 
a profound difference in the education of a child.
  According to the Inspector General of the Education Department 
Lorraine Lewis, also in 1999, the Department of Education made a number 
of improper payments, including about $125 million in duplicate 
payments to 45 different grantees, $664,000 in duplicate payment to 51 
different schools and a $6 million double payment to a single school.
  These duplicate payments are unacceptable and irresponsible.
  A double payment of $125 million dollars represents the opportunity 
for 869 Arizonans to attend four tuition-free years at Arizona State 
University.
  Some may say figures like $6 million, or $664,000, are not even worth 
mentioning or tracking in a system spending hundreds of billions of 
dollars. I think that line of reasoning is exactly why Department of 
Education is so fraught with financial mismanagement. It is time we 
examine how to better spend millions, hundreds of thousands, and even 
thousands of hard-earned taxpayer dollars, and set a new standard of 
accountability to those who ``toil to bear the cost of government.''




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