Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee - Chairman Johnson's Opening Statement on "Government Reform: Ending Duplication and Holding Washington Accountable"

Hearing

Good morning and welcome. I want to start by thanking Comptroller General Gene Dodaro and
all of the staff at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), who work tirelessly to prepare
these reports. I also want to thank Dr. Coburn for coming back to our committee to talk about
this important topic.

Every year this committee gathers here to highlight duplicative, wasteful spending by the federal
government. But what a lot of people may not know is how this GAO report came about. Dr.
Coburn, then a relatively new senator, was fed up with seeing legislation that, while well-
intentioned, was spending money to create new programs to address perceived problems where
federal programs already existed.

So Dr. Coburn tasked his staff with a monumental mission: to compile an inventory of all
duplicative federal spending. I understand they came up with a pretty good list, but it was
impossible for them to make it a complete inventory on their own. Undeterred, Dr. Coburn
offered a very simple amendment during the 2010 debt ceiling fight, requiring the GAO to report
annually on duplication. It passed unanimously.

I would venture to guess that had the Congressional Budget Office scored Dr. Coburn's
amendment, it would have estimated a cost of several million dollars for the report each year.

What the score would not have shown is all the taxpayer money those reports would save. Six
years later -- with less than half of the GAO's recommendations implemented -- the GAO
estimates that its recommendations have resulted in savings of $56 billion.

The latest report identifies 37 new areas of waste and 92 recommendations for Congress and the executive branch.

Each year serves as another reminder that there is still much more work to be done and savings
to be had. While our committee cannot solve federal waste and duplication on its own, there is a
lot we can do. First, we can continue to perform oversight and pressure the administration to
implement the GAO recommendations. Second, we can work to pass laws that reform wasteful
government spending.

Our committee has approved more than 20 bipartisan bills this Congress to address wasteful
government spending. For various reasons, some of these bills will never achieve unanimous
consent. But we cannot let that stop us.

Today, I made public a discussion draft of a bill that would combine 15 bills this committee has
already approved with overwhelming bipartisan support. The legislation makes government
more efficient, improves transparency, cuts duplicative and wasteful spending and strengthens
our federal watchdogs. Together, these bills make up a package of common-sense government reforms.
I've heard from the majority leader that he is very supportive of moving bipartisan
government reform legislation through the Senate.

By focusing on these areas of agreement, we can pass legislation that makes a real difference in
addressing government waste. I look forward to discussing this bill further with my colleagues.

I am grateful for Senator Coburn being here today to call attention to duplication and waste, and
I look forward to hearing from him and the Comptroller General about what more we can do.

Source