[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23658-23659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       WASHINGTON WASTE WATCHERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight, along with my 
colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart), as 
cofounder of a new Republican effort dedicated to bringing the 
disinfectant of sunshine into the shadowy corners of the wasteful 
Washington bureaucracy. We call ourselves the ``Washington Waste 
Watchers.''
  Do not be confused, the Washington Waste Watchers are not about 
counting calories. It is about counting the myriad of ways that the 
Federal bureaucracy routinely wastes the hard-earned money of the 
American family. We are here to look after the family budget by 
checking the growth of the Federal budget.
  Madam Speaker, I am sure all of my colleagues are well aware of the 
size of our Federal deficit. It is large and getting larger every day; 
and, to compound the challenge, we are presently faced with a 
supplemental appropriation request of $87 billion to help fight the war 
on terror. I believe, after much debate and due diligence, that this 
body will pass most, if not all, of that request. I, for one, agree 
that it is far better to fight this war over there, as opposed to over 
here. And although I have concerns about portions of the request, I 
fundamentally believe that helping rebuild the infrastructure and the 
civil society of Iraq is just as important in winning this war as are 
additional combat troops and munitions.
  So, faced with unparalleled homeland security needs and a growing 
budget deficit, what are we to do?
  Democrats say the only way to cut the deficit is to yet again raise 
the taxes on the American family. Sound familiar? It is the same 
refrain we have heard from them for years.
  We do have a large budget deficit, but it is not because the American 
people are undertaxed. It is because Washington spends too much.
  Since I was born, the Federal budget has grown seven times faster 
than the family budget; seven times. This is unconscionable. And 
putting aside the war on terror, the Democrats, who claim to be 
concerned about budget deficits, have voted to spend almost $1 trillion 
more than our budget allows; $1 trillion more. There is a spending 
problem in Washington, not a taxing problem. Much of the spending in 
Washington is pure waste, fraud, and abuse; and by attacking it every 
day, we can begin to close this deficit.
  For a moment, let us talk about the waste of duplication.
  There are more than 90 programs across 11 different agencies to 
support the early development of children. For example, there are 9 
Federal agencies and 69 different programs to educate and care for 
children under the age of 5. There are 29 different programs offering 
early education for children within the Department of HHS, itself 
having 4 separate programs to educate those from low-income families. 
And Democrats want to raise our taxes to pay for more of this?
  The Federal Government operates 342 different economic development 
programs; 342. And, by the way, what does the Federal Government know 
about economic development anyway?
  There are 86 different programs in 9 Federal agencies to assist 
teachers in improving their teaching skills. This is on top of the 
thousands that already exist at the State level. Also, if we already 
have a Department of Education, why do we need teaching programs spread 
over 9 different agencies? Yet Democrats want to raise our taxes to pay 
for more of this.
  Madam Speaker, 12 different Federal agencies are responsible for food 
safety. For example, the Department of Agriculture inspects meat 
pizzas, while vegetarian pizzas are under the purview of the Department 
of Health and Human Services. Only in Washington, D.C., could this 
absurd result happen.
  The Federal Government operates at least 70 programs dedicated to 
helping the disabled. About half of these duplicate programs cost 
taxpayers close to $110 billion annually. That is a quarter of the cost 
of the 10-year prescription drug bill for our seniors. And Democrats 
want to raise our taxes to pay for more of this?

[[Page 23659]]

  Madam Speaker, these are just a few of the examples of rampant 
duplication and waste throughout our Federal Government. After we begin 
to look closely, it is easy to see that many Federal programs routinely 
lose 10, 20, 30 percent of their taxpayer-funded budgets to waste, 
fraud, and abuse, and they have for years.
  In the real world, when people lose that much money, they are either 
fired or they go to jail. But in Washington, it is only an excuse to 
ask for even more money from the American family next year.
  There are many ways we can cut the deficit without cutting any needed 
services, because when it comes to Federal programs, it is not how much 
money Washington spends, it is how Washington spends the money.

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