[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 47 (Monday, April 4, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H2273-H2274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      REDUCING DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PRINTING AND REPRODUCTION BUDGET

  Mr. WEST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1246) to reduce the amounts otherwise authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of Defense for printing and 
reproduction.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1246

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

     SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN AMOUNTS OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED TO BE 
                   APPROPRIATED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR 
                   PRINTING AND REPRODUCTION.

       The following amounts otherwise authorized to be 
     appropriated for fiscal year 2012 for the Department of 
     Defense are hereby reduced by 10 percent:
       (1) The amount for Operation and Maintenance for the Army, 
     for printing and reproduction.
       (2) The amount for Operation and Maintenance for the Navy, 
     for printing and reproduction.
       (3) The amount for Operation and Maintenance for the Marine 
     Corps, for printing and reproduction.
       (4) The amount for Operation and Maintenance for the Air 
     Force, for printing and reproduction.
       (5) The amount for Operation and Maintenance for Defense-
     wise activities, for printing and reproduction.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. West) and the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WEST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on 
the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WEST. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1246. It is a simple, commonsense 
bill that calls for an overall 10 percent reduction in the printing and 
reproduction costs of the Department of Defense.
  More importantly, the American people support H.R. 1246, as more than 
150,000 people voted online via the YouCut program on passing this 
bill. The American people are behind this, and we need to be behind the 
American people. H.R. 1246 will help us keep our promise to the 
American people that we will cut waste, fraud and abuse in government 
spending and spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently, and that includes 
every department or agency.
  In fiscal year 2012, the Department of Defense proposes to spend $357 
million for printing and reproduction services. Now, I am not arguing 
that paper copies are no longer needed. We all still rely on paper. But 
I do not understand why we need examples of these expensive, high-gloss 
color briefing slides and slick books that the DOD sends over here for 
everything from briefing slides to budget rollouts and miscellaneous 
reports. If anyone is interested, the House Armed Services Committee 
has a boatload of these fancy printed reports. I think the information 
that DOD needs to get to us, as well as share internally amongst 
themselves or with the public, can just as easily be conveyed using 
plain black-and-white copies that are printed on both sides. Nowadays, 
a lot can be transmitted electronically.
  During my 22 years of active duty service in the United States Army, 
I witnessed the growth of the excessive PowerPoint briefs and 
reproduction. I am well aware of areas where saving money is very 
possible, and this is one of those areas.
  These cuts are aimed at wasteful Defense Department spending and will 
not affect the overall mission of our men and women in uniform in 
protecting our national security. Mr. Speaker, a mere 10 percent 
reduction to this one account would save taxpayers $35.7 million in 
fiscal year 2012 and nearly $180 million over the next 5 years. We owe 
it to the taxpayers to take this step.
  Now, this may seem like a small amount to some, but imagine if every 
Member of Congress, all 435 of us, took it upon ourselves to do the 
exact same

[[Page H2274]]

and find where we could cut some wasteful spending. We would regain the 
trust and confidence of the American people as good stewards of their 
resources. Let's pass H.R. 1246.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 1246 is an innocuous-sounding bill that proposes to help reduce 
Federal spending and reduce waste by cutting 10 percent of the 
Pentagon's printing and reproduction services budget. I believe most of 
us would agree that the goal of H.R. 1246, to reduce dependence on 
paper copies in a time of proliferating electronic media, is one that 
most of us would find reasonable.
  In effect, however, the bill does little to address the much more 
serious deficit issues facing our Nation today, including issues in the 
defense arena that should be thoughtfully debated by Members of this 
Congress. The bill is estimated to save some $35.7 million in fiscal 
year 2012, and then another $180 million over the next 5 fiscal years, 
which hardly makes a dent in the multitrillion-dollar deficit facing 
our Nation.
  One could also argue that the bill is ill-timed, coming on the heels 
of increasing requests for the Department of Defense to produce 
documents for oversight being conducted by congressional committees. 
Indeed, requests from the Congress for required reports, including, Mr. 
Speaker, from our own House Armed Services Committee, number in the 
hundreds and thousands. So it would seem somewhat hypocritical of us to 
be cutting funding for printing and reproduction services when we, we 
Members of Congress, are asking for more and more and more reports.
  Mr. Speaker, while I will not encourage my colleagues to oppose this 
bill, I consider it a bad use of valuable floor time that could be used 
to address legislation to put this country on a track toward greater 
fiscal responsibility.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WEST. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would say this. I do believe that we must take a first 
step when we talk about deficit reduction. I think that this is one of 
the important things. As I said in my statement, if each and every one 
of us in this House, all 435, made the effort to find these instances 
of fraud, waste and abuse, then we could have more significant cuts 
into our deficit and, of course, into our debt. And I think at a 
critical time when, the gentlewoman from Guam just stated, maybe 
perhaps also following along with this, we do need to look at the 
amount of requests for reports that we are having.
  But still, as we are talking about efficiency in the Department of 
Defense, this is a first step toward that efficiency occurring. And I 
think that anyone that would not be willing to support this says that 
they are not willing to take that first step toward getting the 
Department of Defense and all our departments and all of our agencies 
to be more effective and more efficient. But as well, that does start 
with us here in the Members of the House of Representatives.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the previous 
speaker.
  There are 435 voting Members of Congress, but there are 441 Members 
of the United States House of Representatives. Although I represent a 
territory and I am not allowed to vote, I do make requests during 
committee time for reports.
  I just wanted to make that correction.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1420

  Mr. WEST. Mr. Speaker, at this time I have no further requests, and 
also apologies to you, Madam.
  I am prepared to close after my colleague has yielded back her time.
  I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. West) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1246.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WEST. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________