[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Thune):
  S. 2981. A bill to reevaluate and redirect the stimulus; to the 
Committee on Appropriations.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today with my friend and colleague 
Senator Thune to introduce the Reevaluate and Redirect the Stimulus Act 
of 2010 that would require the Obama Administration's Office of 
Management and Budget, OMB, to make proposals to redirect stimulus 
funds approved in last year's $787 billion American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act. Although I supported the stimulus and favor the 
continuation of pro-growth policies, given that the federal deficit for 
Fiscal Year 2009 was a staggering $1.4 trillion and that the 
Congressional Budget Office announced on January 26 that it is 
projecting a baseline deficit of $6.047 trillion over the next 10 
years, Congress must do more to pair the resources targeted for job 
creation with reductions in other areas.
  Before I describe the provisions of the legislation I am introducing 
today, I must say that it is regrettable that I feel compelled to offer 
a bill at all. The fact is, I wrote a letter last December 11 to OMB 
Director Peter Orszag urging him to analyze unobligated funds in the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to determine whether they should 
be reprogrammed to offset the cost of future stimulus legislation. 
Although my letter requested a response by January 1, the 
administration, who is solely responsible for distributing stimulus 
spending, has declined to do so. The Administration also opted against 
including any related proposals in its just-released Fiscal Year 2011 
Budget. I find it inconceivable that there are no funds that should be 
redirected, and thus the Administration has concluded that every dollar 
we approved last February is working precisely as intended. 
Additionally, I am particularly concerned by proposals to pay for 
additional stimulus by reducing the authorization level for the 
Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, as the House did last December. 
The fact is that further stimulus spending claimed to be offset by 
reducing TARP's authorization level would still increase the deficit 
relative to simply not using additional TARP funds at all.
  Despite OMB's inattention to my request, the administration and 
Congress both remain accountable to ensure that each dollar we spend on 
stimulus either creates jobs at a greater rate or protects displaced 
individuals at a lower cost than competing policies on the table. To 
the degree that either the tax or spending proposals President Obama 
has or that members of Congress want to pursue are more beneficial than 
proceeding to obligate funds still available in the American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act, the administration and Congress should assess the 
possibility of redirecting those resources. We simply cannot afford to 
be poor fiscal stewards and engage in wasteful spending that will rob 
future generations of prosperity.
  To fulfill this fundamental obligation, the legislation I am offering 
today would make it a statutory requirement for OMB, within the next 15 
days, to provide Congress with a list of provisions from the stimulus 
for which there remain funds that have not yet been obligated. Second, 
OMB would be required to provide Congress with a list of programs 
included in the stimulus with remaining unobligated funds that it 
recommends be redirected toward more effective programs to either 
assist the displaced, or spur job creation. Once Congress receives the 
administration's proposals, all Members, as well as the appropriate 
Congressional committees, can evaluate their suitability with an eye 
toward using them as offsets for forthcoming legislation.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this legislation 
and help to swiftly make it law. The administration and Congress must 
work together to address our tremendous budget deficit and insist that 
every dollar we spend promotes its objective. Given that it oversees 
stimulus spending and has the capacity to evaluate whether programs are 
working as intended, it is only appropriate that the administration 
complete the first step of this process and provide Congress with a 
list of spending that could be redirected. Once it does so, I will 
certainly insist that Congress discharge its responsibility of 
carefully evaluating the administration's proposals. Individuals 
seeking relief from the recession that has so ravaged our economy 
expect nothing less as it is unfair to waste dollars that could be more 
beneficial elsewhere, and future generations who will have to repay 
today's deficits will thank us as well.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2981

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Reevaluate and Redirect the 
     Stimulus Act of 2010''.

     SEC. 2. OMB CERTIFICATION.

       Not later 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (referred 
     to in this Act as the ``Director'') shall provide to 
     Congress--
       (1) a list of programs that have unobligated stimulus funds 
     provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 
     2009 and the amounts that are unobligated; and
       (2) a list of stimulus funds that remain unobligated that 
     the Director recommends be redirected toward more effective 
     programs to either assist displaced workers or spur job 
     creation in 2010 with a breakdown of the amounts of 
     unobligated funds that could be reprogrammed by program.

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