[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5245]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE GSA SCANDAL

  (Mr. CRAWFORD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, the recently discovered GSA spending 
scandal is a prime example why Americans have lost faith in their 
government.
  This week, I questioned GSA officials about the now infamous 
conference hosted in Las Vegas. This one lavish conference left 
American taxpayers with an $822,000 tab.
  Let me list just a few of the expense items from Las Vegas that are 
sure to enrage the American taxpayers: $75,000 was spent on a bicycle-
building exercise to encourage team building; $3,200 was spent on mind 
readers to entertain the attendees. Guess what I'm thinking now. The 
average cost for breakfast per attendee, $44--that's $44 per person per 
day. And I save the worse for last, a $30,000 pool party.
  Adding insult to injury, the chief organizer of the 2010 Las Vegas 
conference was approved for a bonus by senior Obama officials for his 
work in organizing the conference.
  Officials who organize and authorize wasteful spending must be held 
responsible. This body must work to end the culture of waste at GSA and 
other government agencies and ensure that taxpayer dollars are 
respected.

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