Sec. 609. Policy statement on deficit reduction through the reduction of unnecessary and wasteful spending
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The House finds the following: The Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) is required by law to identify examples of waste, duplication, and overlap in Federal programs, and has so identified dozens of such examples. In testimony before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Comptroller General has stated that addressing the identified waste, duplication, and overlap in Federal programs could potentially save tens of billions of dollars. In 2011, 2012, and 2013 the Government Accountability Office issued reports showing excessive duplication and redundancy in Federal programs including— 209 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education programs in 13 different Federal agencies at a cost of $3 billion annually; 200 separate Department of Justice crime prevention and victim services grant programs with an annual cost of $3.9 billion in 2010; 20 different Federal entities administer 160 housing programs and other forms of Federal assistance for housing with a total cost of $170 billion in 2010; 17 separate Homeland Security preparedness grant programs that spent $37 billion between fiscal year 2011 and 2012; 14 grant and loan programs, and 3 tax benefits to reduce diesel emissions; 94 different initiatives run by 11 different agencies to encourage green building in the private sector; and 23 agencies implemented approximately 670 renewable energy initiatives in fiscal year 2010 at a cost of nearly $15 billion.
The Federal Government spends about $80 billion each year for approximately 800 information technology investments. GAO has identified broad acquisition failures, waste, and unnecessary duplication in the Government’s information technology infrastructure. Experts have estimated that eliminating these problems could save 25 percent – or $20 billion – of the Government’s annual information technology budget. GAO has identified strategic sourcing as a potential source of spending reductions.
In 2011 GAO estimated that saving 10 percent of the total or all Federal procurement could generate over $50 billion in savings annually. Federal agencies reported an estimated $108 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2012. Under clause 2 of Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, each standing committee must hold at least one hearing during each 120 day period following its establishment on waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement in Government programs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, by fiscal year 2015, 32 laws will expire, possibly resulting in $693 billion in unauthorized appropriations.
Timely reauthorizations of these laws would ensure assessments of program justification and effectiveness. The findings resulting from congressional oversight of Federal Government programs should result in programmatic changes in both authorizing statutes and program funding levels. Each authorizing committee annually shall include in its Views and Estimates letter required under section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 recommendations to the Committee on the Budget of programs within the jurisdiction of such committee whose funding should be reduced or eliminated.