Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, first, I would like to thank my colleague from Oregon. I appreciate that very much. No Budget No Recess Act and End-of-Year Fiscal Responsibility Act

Mr. President, `tis the season in Washington. Government agencies are going on their ``Christmas in September, use-it-or-lose-it'' shopping spree. If not spent by midnight on September 30, leftover dollars expire and can no longer be used.

Rather than returning the money to taxpayers, binge-buying bureaucrats are wasting billions of taxpayer dollars needlessly. Frankly, folks, this is Washington's most notorious tradition at the end of our fiscal year.

Let me tell you, folks, Iowans and hard-working folks across the country really should be appalled by many of the last-minute purchases our tax dollars are paying for. I will just give you some examples.

There was $4.6 million spent on lobster tail and crab; $2.1 million spent on games, toys, and wheeled goods; over $53,000 on china and tableware; more than $40,000 on clocks; and nearly $12,000 for a commercial foosball table. Yes, that is right, folks, a commercial foosball table, 12,000 of your dollars.

What are we, as Congress, doing about this wasteful spending? Nada, nothing. Congress is sitting idly by, letting Washington bureaucrats waste the hard-earned dollars of folks in my home State of Iowa.

Failing to pass the bills necessary to fund the government on time makes it difficult for agencies to thoughtfully plan and allocate billions of dollars. That is why I fought hard to make sure Congress completes its job of appropriating and budgeting on time.

Through my No Budget No Recess Act, Members of Congress would be prohibited from leaving Washington if we fail to pass a budget by April 15 or if we fail to approve regular spending bills by August 1.

The way we are doing business is incentivizing Federal agencies to rush and spend the rest of their money as quickly as possible, and it makes it all the more likely that they will waste money on unnecessary goods and services.

As Iowa taxpayers know, it is never smart to rush into a big purchase. Unfortunately, it seems Washington bureaucrats don't agree, especially when it is the tax dollars of hard-working Americans that they are dealing with.

Washington's spending disorder gets more expensive every year. The $97 billion rung up in September 2018 is 15 percent more than was spent the same month the previous year and a staggering 39 percent more than that time in 2015. But if the Federal agencies followed the President's directive to trim their budgets by 5 percent, an easy place to start is simply by cutting the dollars they have been unable to spend.

Federal agencies end every year with leftover money in their budgets. This year, it is estimated the government will end up with more than $825 billion in unspent funds that have not been committed by contract or otherwise obligated to be spent. Last year's $804 billion budget deficit could have been wiped out and turned into a surplus if the unobligated balance being held in the Federal coffers had been canceled. Instead, Federal agencies ordered lobster tail and tons of--get this-- tater tots--tons of tater tots, as Washington amassed its largest shortfall since 2012.

Folks, we have to put an end to this madness. Seriously, someone has to be the Grinch on behalf of our taxpayers. That is why earlier this year I introduced the End-of-Year Fiscal Responsibility Act.

My bill would limit an agency's spending in the last 2 months of the year to no more than the average of the previous 10 months. This bill will not end all wasteful spending, but it will force agencies to put more thought into long-term planning and curtail the bad habit of out- of-control impulsive spending.

Folks, Washington spending is out of control. With our national debt now surpassing $22 trillion, Washington should be looking for ways to save by canceling or delaying unnecessary expenses rather than splurging on end-of-the-year wish lists.

I would like to recognize the great work of the nonpartisan group OpenTheBooks, which is working to put every dime the government spends online in real time to hold Washington accountable. The group issued a report on this very subject in March.

I would also like to note that Iowans sent me to the Senate with a specific mission: Cut wasteful spending, and make Washington squeal. To prevent buyer's remorse, I am giving everyone in Washington fair warning. My office will be reviewing your last-minute purchases and asking you to justify them to the taxpayers.

It is time to put an end to this reckless behavior. Billion-dollar binge buying is no way to budget.

Thank you.

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