[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 165 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S8296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INVEST TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN WHAT WORKS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as Congress continues its work 
addressing our Nation's looming fiscal crisis, we must also remember 
that we have a responsibility to our taxpayers to improve outcomes for 
young people and their families by driving Federal funds more 
efficiently toward evidence-based, results-oriented solutions.
  In August, I shared promising news from my home State, where 
evidence-based Federal programs, including the Social Innovation Fund, 
the Investing in Innovation Fund, and the High Quality Charter Schools 
Replication and Expansion Program, are improving education and other 
important outcomes for thousands of young people throughout Louisiana.
  Bipartisan support for investing in what works has been growing for 
decades.
  Under the George W. Bush administration, the Office of Management and 
Budget put a priority on improving the performance of Federal programs 
and encouraged more rigorous evaluations to assess their effectiveness.
  In 2010, the Simpson-Bowles Commission Report, the ``National 
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform,'' specifically 
recommended urging all Federal agency heads to ``identify ways to shift 
from inefficient, unproductive spending to productive, results-based 
investment.''
  And in May of this year, the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, 
instructed all Federal departments and agencies to demonstrate the use 
of evidence throughout their fiscal year 2014 budget submissions.
  At a time when America is facing enormous social and economic shifts, 
budget constraints at all levels of government, significant demographic 
changes, and an increasingly globally competitive, changing workforce, 
our Federal Government must continue to drive public resources toward 
evidence-based, results-driven solutions that work.
  I believe the following principles can serve as the foundation of an 
``invest in what works'' agenda: develop and use a common evidence 
framework to inform program design and management; use evidence, data 
and information about performance to inform policy and drive continuous 
improvement in Federal programs and grantee interventions; promote 
innovation and flexibility and focus on outcomes rather than simply on 
compliance; increasingly target investments in interventions with the 
strongest evidence of effectiveness, as well as support the development 
and rigorous evaluation of promising, innovative interventions; and, 
seek opportunities to promote and invest in systems and communities 
that are collaborating to achieve significant community-wide impact or 
change at scale.
  I would encourage the administration to incorporate these principles 
in its fiscal year 2014 budget request, and to consider reserving 1 
percent of Federal program funds for independent, third-party 
evaluations. These recommendations, which are consistent with the 2010 
Simpson-Bowles report and the 2012 OMB memo on evidence and evaluation, 
would provide Members of Congress with reliable information to gauge 
program effectiveness and drive continuous improvement.
  In pursuing this approach, we should remain steadfastly focused on 
equity and serving children and families in greatest need. Done right, 
an ``invest in what works'' framework can advance an equity agenda. 
Competitive grants can augment and help maximize the impact of 
important formula funding. When designing such policies, we must 
prioritize grantees serving children and families most in need and 
leverage lessons learned to improve the impact of larger scale 
programs. Moreover, the Federal Government should make technical 
assistance a priority to potentially high-impact grantees--including 
rural grantees--that have less expertise in preparing Federal grant 
applications.
  I am fully committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle to help improve outcomes for young people and their families 
through the development and implementation of an agenda that invests in 
what works.

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