[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 158 (Tuesday, November 4, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H10317-H10318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WASHINGTON WASTE WATCHERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. King of Iowa). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise again this week as part of 
Washington Waste Watchers, a Republican effort dedicated to bringing 
the disinfectant of sunshine into the shadowy corners of the wasteful 
Washington bureaucracy. We are here to show the American people how 
Federal agencies need to be held accountable, for they routinely lose 
huge portions of taxpayer-funded budgets to waste, fraud and abuse.
  This week, let us talk about the Department of Education. Today 
America's schools face a number of challenges. The Democrats have said 
time and time again that the answer is simply more Federal money, more 
Federal spending. Unfortunately, that is simply not true. Congress has 
already dramatically increased Federal spending for education. 
According to the Office of Management and Budget, from 1994 to 2002, 
funding for the Department of Education grew by a greater percentage 
than any other cabinet-level agency, number one. Yet test scores have 
either stagnated or actually declined. The problem is not how much 
money the government spends, the problem is how government spends the 
money. Unfortunately, much of the money that we spend on education is 
not going to the children. Enormous sums of the American people's hard-
earned tax dollars intended to help teach our children are lost in 
waste, fraud and abuse.

[[Page H10318]]

                              {time}  1945

  Mr. Speaker, let me just give you a few examples. Over a 3-year 
period, just one executive director of a Head Start program received 
over $814,000 in salary and bonuses. One of those years he received 
over $343,000, more than the Secretary of Education, more than a four-
star general, more than the Vice President of the United States. This 
same Head Start program leased this government employee a Mercedes-Benz 
SUV for $600 a month, in part with Federal funds. And Democrats want to 
raise our taxes to pay for more of this?
  This compensation is being paid with Federal funds that are intended 
to help 3- to 5-year-old school children. While this administrator's 
salary could pay for the education of 50 Head Start kids, the program 
he administered was over $1 million in debt. And Democrats want to 
raise our taxes to pay for more of this?
  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HENSARLING. I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas.
  Mr. BERRY. I would just remind the gentleman from Texas that all 
these facts he is throwing out happened to have taken place at a time 
when the President of the United States and the entire United States 
Congress was controlled by Republicans.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Reclaiming my time, actually during 1999, I believe 
President Clinton, a Democrat, was President of the United States. That 
brings up a greater problem. Frankly, there is a Federal bureaucracy 
that is out of control, and Republicans are trying to do something 
about it.
  To continue, in 1999, the Department of Education made a number of 
improper payments, during the Clinton administration, I might add, 
including about $125 million in duplicate payments to 45 different 
grantees, $664,000 in duplicate payments to 51 different schools, and a 
$6 million double payment to a single school. What accountability. And 
Democrats want to raise our taxes to pay for more of this?
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, over a 3-year period, from 1999 to 2001, during 
the Clinton administration, the Department of Education wasted almost 
one-half billion dollars, enough to pay for 194,000 extra Pell grants, 
increase the charter school program by 80 percent, or double the amount 
given to States to keep schools free and clear of drugs. $450 million 
wasted. And Democrats want to raise our taxes to pay for more of this?
  Mr. Speaker, these are just a few examples of the types of waste the 
American people are paying for. When you look at the reports, it is 
easy to see that many other Federal programs routinely waste 10, 20, 
even 30 percent of their taxpayer-funded budgets, and have for years. 
In the real world when people lose this much money, they are either 
fired or they go to jail. But in Washington, it is simply an excuse to 
ask for even more money next year.
  If we care about our children, we will begin to measure success by 
focusing on the outputs of education, test scores and the realization 
of students' potential, and quit measuring success by merely focusing 
on the inputs, money thrown at the problem. There are a thousand ways 
that we can save money in Washington without cutting needed services 
and without raising taxes on hardworking families as the Democrats 
propose. Because when it comes to Federal spending, it is not how much 
money the government spends, it is how the government spends the money.

                          ____________________