[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.
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