[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 33 (Monday, March 7, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1330-S1331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 93--ESTABLISHING THE COMMITTEE TO REDUCE GOVERNMENT
WASTE
Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Udall of Colorado) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and
Administration:
S. Res. 93
Resolved,
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.
There shall be a Senate committee known as the Committee to
Reduce Government Waste (referred to in this resolution as
the ``Committee'').
SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) Composition.--The Committee shall be composed of 12
members as follows:
(1) 4 members from the Committee on Finance, 2 selected by
the Majority Leader and 2 selected by the Minority Leader.
(2) 4 members from the Committee on Appropriations, 2
selected by the Majority Leader and 2 selected by the
Minority Leader.
(3) 4 members from the Committee on the Budget, 2 selected
by the Majority Leader and 2 selected by the Minority Leader.
(b) Tenure of Office.--
(1) Period of appointment.--Members shall be appointed for
a period of not to exceed 6 years.
(2) Exceptions.--No person shall continue to serve as a
member of the Committee after the person has ceased to be a
member of the Committee from which the member was chosen.
(c) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the Committee shall not
affects its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as
the original appointment.
(d) Chairman and Vice Chairman.--The Committee shall select
a Chairman and Vice Chairman from among its members.
(e) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Committee
shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may
hold hearings. The powers conferred upon them by section 4
may be exercised by a majority vote.
SEC. 3. DUTIES.
(a) In General.--The Committee shall have the following
duties:
(1) Study.--The Committee shall--
(A) research, review, and study Federal programs that are
underperforming or nonessential; and
(B) determine which Federal programs should be modified or
eliminated.
(2) Recommend.--The Committee shall develop recommendations
to the Senate for action designed to modify or eliminate
underperforming or nonessential Federal programs.
(3) Report and legislation.--The Committee shall submit to
the Senate--
(A) at least once a year, reports including--
(i) a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of
the Committee; and
(ii) a list of underperforming or nonessential Federal
programs; and
(B) such legislation and administrative actions as it
considers appropriate.
(b) Consideration of Legislation.--Any legislation
submitted to the Senate by the Committee shall be considered
under the provisions of section 310 of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 641).
SEC. 4. POWERS.
(a) Hearings.--The Committee or, at its direction, any
subcommittee or member of the Committee, may, for the purpose
of carrying out the provisions of section 3--
(1) sit and act, at any time, during the sessions,
recesses, and adjourned periods of Congress;
(2) require as the Committee considers necessary, by
subpoena or otherwise, the attendance of witnesses and the
production of books, papers, and documents;
(3) administer oaths and take testimony; and
(4) procure necessary printing and binding.
(b) Witness Allowances and Fees.--The provisions of section
1821 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to
witnesses requested to appear at any hearing of the
Committee. The per diem and mileage allowances for witnesses
shall be paid from funds available to pay the expenses of the
Committee.
(c) Expenditures.--The Committee, or any subcommittee
thereof, is authorized to make such expenditures as it deems
advisable.
SEC. 5. APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION OF STAFF.
Except as otherwise provided by law, the Committee shall
have power to appoint and fix the compensation of the Chief
of Staff of the Committee and such experts and clerical,
stenographic, and other assistants as it deems advisable.
SEC. 6. PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.
The expenses of the Committee shall be paid from the
contingent fund of the Senate.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, our Nation's fiscal situation has reached a
tipping point. The debt held by the public now exceeds $9 trillion. We
are now in our third year of trillion dollar deficits. According to the
Congressional Budget Office, by the end of 2011, our debt will be $10.4
trillion. This represents 69 percent of GDP, the highest level since
1950.
The picture only gets uglier if you take into account other factors.
Our total public debt outstanding is over $14 trillion. Moreover, if
you assume that certain things that always happen will continue to
happen things like the AMT patch, tax relief for families and
businesses, and a ``doc-fix'' our debt will soon be nearly 100 percent
of GDP.
This is, quite simply, unsustainable. If we do not act now to get a
handle on this spending, the nation that gave boundless opportunity to
generations of Americans will not be there for our children and
grandchildren. With interest payments on all this debt set to grow from
$225 billion in 2011 to $792 billion in 2021, we are approaching a
fiscal death spiral.
Congress could go a long way simply by reducing wasteful and
redundant government spending. Last week, in response to a request from
my colleague from Oklahoma, Dr. Coburn, the Government Accountability
Office released a report identifying between $100 and $200 billion in
wasteful spending on redundant government programs alone.
Dr. Coburn has been doing yeoman's work burrowing into the federal
budget to find the sources of wasteful spending, but getting this
report from GAO
[[Page S1331]]
is, in my view, his greatest achievement to date. He has given Congress
a roadmap for cuts that really should be no-brainers.
But Congress' record on securing cuts is less than stellar. Ronald
Reagan once said that nothing comes closer to eternal life than a
government program. Congress' committee structure is set up to
authorize and reauthorize new programs. It is set up to appropriate
money for those programs.
But there are few institutionalized forums in Congress for spending
restraint.
That is why I am introducing today, with my colleague from Colorado,
Senator Mark Udall, a Senate Resolution that will create a Committee to
Reduce Government Waste. After last week's GAO report, there is no
longer any doubt that the Federal Government is deluged with wasteful,
non-performing, and underperforming programs.
This committee would be required, every year, to identify wasteful
government programs and recommend legislation to either cut them or
reduce them in scope.
Most importantly, the consideration of this legislation would be
expedited, subject to Section 310 of the Congressional Budget Act.
There is a precedent for a committee such as this one. In response to
the rising costs of World War II, Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia
proposed the establishment of a committee to cut wasteful programs
instead of raising taxes. In just three years, the committee cut
wasteful programs, resulting in more than $38 billion in today's
dollars. Given the growth of government in the intervening 6 decades, I
expect that our anti-appropriations committee will have an even easier
time identifying wasteful spending and programs today.
This would be a truly bipartisan committee, with 4 members, 2
Republicans and 2 Democrats, from each of the Senate Finance, Budget,
and Appropriations Committees.
Ultimately, getting our budget deficits and structural debt under
control is going to take meaningful action from both sides of the
aisle. This needs to be a bipartisan process, and I could not be more
pleased that I am being joined in this effort by my Democratic
colleague from Colorado, Senator Udall.
The American people have spoken loud and clear. Every day families
make tough choices to balance their books, and they expect Congress to
do the same. Dozens of groups, representing millions of American
taxpayers, have come together to ask Congress to support a committee
devoted to eliminating government waste.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on enacting this
resolution. Senators hear every day from interest groups seeking more
money from the Federal Government. They are well organized, well
financed, and well versed in the ways of the Senate. The committee we
are proposing will make sure that the citizens who have to foot the
bill for all of this government spending will have a venue where their
concerns take precedence.
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