[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          SILVER FLEECE AWARD

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, As we continue to debate our economic future 
I would like to announce July's Silver Fleece Award winner. This 
month's most wasteful spending project is another example of the 
egregious Federal spending habits of this government and demonstrates 
why exactly we need to enact the Cut, Cap and Balance Act.
  The Silver Fleece Award for the month of July goes to a $64 million 
stimulus award to provide broadband service to Gallatin County, MT. 
According to an analysis conducted by Navigant Consulting, 93 percent 
of the households in the project's proposed service area were already 
served by five or more broadband providers. The fact that tens of 
millions of taxpayer dollars were spent to subsidize broadband service 
in an area with already strong private sector representation is 
reprehensible. Perhaps even more staggering, though, is the taxpayer 
cost of these services per unserved household.
  According to the program's own definition of ``unserved household,'' 
this project cost taxpayers more than $340,000 per unserved household.
  However, many of these so-called unserved households have access to 
3G wireless broadband. Not only are 3G speeds approaching or even 
meeting administration broadband standards, but 3G will soon be 
replaced with 4G broadband, which will far exceed current standards. 
Subtracting the number of homes that had existing access to 3G wireless 
leaves only seven households in the Gallatin County service area 
unserved by broadband. It cost the U.S. taxpayer an astounding 
$7,112,422 per household to provide broadband service to the truly 
unserved population.
  I wish I could say this project is the exception, but I cannot. This 
funding was provided through the stimulus' $3.5 billion Rural Utility 
Service Broadband Initiative Program. On average, this program cost the 
taxpayer over $1,000 per household. In the projects analyzed by the 
Navigant study, 85 percent of the households served already had access 
to broadband.
  Unfortunately, rural broadband subsidization has been long mismanaged 
by the Rural Utility Service. A 2009 inspector general report found 
that just 2 percent of Federal broadband buildout funds provided 
between 2005 and 2008 went toward unserved communities. The same IG 
report found that funds were also going to areas that were not rural at 
all. In fact, 148 of the communities provided with subsidized broadband 
between 2005 and 2008 were within 30 miles of cities with at least 
200,000 inhabitants. We continued to see this occur in the stimulus 
funding, where in my home State, Cook County, home of Chicago with a 
population of 2.79 million, and suburban Will County received funds.
  Ensuring connectivity in rural America is a worthy endeavor that will 
bring much needed economic development to small communities around the 
country. But as we face budget shortfalls and a crippling debt, we 
cannot afford to subsidize duplicative broadband service to urban and 
suburban areas.
  Now, during the stimulus debate when the bill was considered by the 
full Appropriations Committee, I raised concerns with the then chair of 
the Agriculture Subcommittee, Rosa DeLauro on this issue. I said it was 
a waste of money. I said that we should probably redirect the funds. I 
said that we should not support this legislation.
  I was defeated in the House of Representatives and the stimulus bill 
was put forward. I even wrote a memo highlighting the waste in this 
rural broadband initiative.
  Unfortunately now seeing--especially in Gallatin County, where we 
have now subsidized each recipient of unserved broadband services at a 
cost of $7,112,422 per person--we have seen that the remarks that I 
made in opposition to this funding when I was a member of the House 
dramatically understated the waste to the U.S. taxpayer.
  As we face a future of deficits and debt, we need to highlight the 
waste of the Rural Broadband Program, which is why the July Silver 
Fleece award went to this program in Gallatin County, MT.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.

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