[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 29496]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            GOVERNMENT WASTE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, last week President Clinton vetoed a bill 
that called for a 1 percent cut in discretionary spending. He said the 
loss would place too great a burden on American families.
  The President's concern would best be served by insisting that his 
agencies are more responsible. The waste in government far exceeds the 
proposed 1 percent cut.
  Here is a partial list of this waste. The Agriculture Department in 
1997 erroneously issued $1 billion in food stamps overpayments. In 
1999, according to the audit, the Defense Department spent $40 billion 
on overseas telecommunications systems that cannot be used. The Defense 
Department inventory contains $11 billion worth of equipment that in 
1997 was unneeded. Also in 1997 the government spent $3.3 billion in 
loan guarantees for defaulted students. By 1996 the Department of 
Energy spent $10 billion on 31 projects that were terminated before 
completion. HCFA in 1998 erroneously spent $12.6 billion in 
overpayments to health care providers. HUD, $857 million in erroneous 
rent subsidy payments in 1998. On and on we could go.
  Mr. Speaker, every agency under the President can find fraud, waste 
and abuse to cut.

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