[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H999-H1000]
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 Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the 
Washington Waste Watchers, and I just listened to one of my esteemed 
colleagues from Texas speak about instances of waste in Federal 
Government and why some of us have such a hard time understanding and 
believing why it is so easy for our good friends, the Democrats, to 
constantly ask for massive tax increases while we see the waste that 
goes on in the Federal Government.
  I just would like to read portions of a memo from the Inspector 
General of the Department of Energy dated March 2003. It is an audit 
report regarding the transfer of excess personal property from the 
Nevada test site to the community reuse organization. Mr. Speaker, 
during the 1990s, as a result of changes in program direction of the 
Department, the Department of Energy downsized or reconfigured a number 
of different facilities, including this State of Nevada test site. To 
mitigate any economic damages or impacts, Congress then authorized the 
Department to transfer excess personal property and provide aid to 
these local civic development organizations that are commonly known as 
CROs.
  These transfers, and that is what the memo says, these transfers were 
based on the express understanding that the property was to be excess 
to department needs, obviously, and also the memo then further states, 
despite the realization that the transfers might be made at less than 
fair market value, the Department was to receive, obviously, the 
Department was to receive reasonable consideration from these CROs for 
said personal property.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to kind of talk about some of the results, 
though, of the audit. The audit disclosed that Nevada's personal 
property transfers

[[Page H1000]]

practices, I am quoting, ``did not strike an appropriate balance 
between the efforts to assist community development and the need to 
assure,'' and this is the part that I just, again, I insist, when you 
read things like that, you wonder why the Democrats insist with such 
passion to raise the taxes on hard-working American taxpayer. Because 
this says, again, that there was no balance, no appropriate balance 
between the efforts to assist community development and the need to 
assure that the Federal taxpayers received reasonable consideration for 
property transferred to the local CROs. In fact, the audit says, we 
found that the taxpayers were frequently shortchanged in this process.
  Yet, the Democrats want to raise the hard-working American people's 
taxes to do more of this kind of thing.
  The audit continues, it says, In February 2002, a rig was, a drill 
rig was sold to the local CRO for $50,000 that is now being offered for 
sale by an out-of-state equipment broker for $3.9 million. You better 
believe the taxpayer was shortchanged and, yet, the Democrats insist on 
wanting to raise the taxes of the American people. It said that this 
group transferred hundreds of pieces of equipment, including trucks, 
office machines and trailers, purchased, by the way, by taxpayers, to 
the CROs for $1 per transfer. And this is the part which is even harder 
to believe, Mr. Speaker.
  It said, it provided laboratory equipment to the CRO that was needed 
at another department site, ultimately causing the Department to spend 
$2.5 million to replace the equipment that they had basically given 
away. Another $2.5 million to purchase that equipment a second time 
because it was given away. Nothing happens.
  Now, the President is trying to change that, and he is aggressively 
trying to change that. We are going to have a debate tomorrow in the 
Committee on the Budget where we are going to try to stop this abuse. 
We are going to try to cut waste, fraud, and abuse. I hope that our 
dear friends on the Democratic side this year, for a change, do not 
propose amendments to raise taxes, to increase spending, but will join 
us in trying to cut waste, protect the American taxpayer. I do not have 
great faith, because they have not done so. That is not in their 
culture and their tradition.
  I hope they do so, because the American taxpayer is fed up with 
waste, fraud, and abuse. They want help in cutting that waste, fraud, 
and abuse. All of us are going to have a great opportunity tomorrow in 
the Committee on the Budget in the markup.
  I hope our dear friends on the Democratic side will not side with the 
constant increases of taxes, and will side with us to cut waste, fraud, 
and abuse, to seriously try to control that part of the budget, not 
increase taxes, not increase spending, spending more money, more good 
over bad over good over bad money, but will join us to not raise taxes 
as they have always wanted to do, but instead will join us to keep the 
taxes low, to keep the child credits intact, to keep the death penalty 
tax from going up. As one of our colleagues said, there at least should 
be no taxation without respiration. And they will have an opportunity 
tomorrow.
  Mr. Speaker, let us see what they will do. I hope that they will join 
us in fighting for the taxpayer, not fighting for more waste and more 
tax increases.

                          ____________________