Washington Waste Watchers

WASHINGTON WASTE WATCHERS -- (House of Representatives - March 10, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Washington Waste Watchers, and I just listened to one of my esteemed colleagues from Texas speak about instances of waste in Federal Government and why some of us have such a hard time understanding and believing why it is so easy for our good friends, the Democrats, to constantly ask for massive tax increases while we see the waste that goes on in the Federal Government.

I just would like to read portions of a memo from the Inspector General of the Department of Energy dated March 2003. It is an audit report regarding the transfer of excess personal property from the Nevada test site to the community reuse organization. Mr. Speaker, during the 1990s, as a result of changes in program direction of the Department, the Department of Energy downsized or reconfigured a number of different facilities, including this State of Nevada test site. To mitigate any economic damages or impacts, Congress then authorized the Department to transfer excess personal property and provide aid to these local civic development organizations that are commonly known as CROs.

These transfers, and that is what the memo says, these transfers were based on the express understanding that the property was to be excess to department needs, obviously, and also the memo then further states, despite the realization that the transfers might be made at less than fair market value, the Department was to receive, obviously, the Department was to receive reasonable consideration from these CROs for said personal property.

Mr. Speaker, I want to kind of talk about some of the results, though, of the audit. The audit disclosed that Nevada's personal property transfers practices, I am quoting, "did not strike an appropriate balance between the efforts to assist community development and the need to assure," and this is the part that I just, again, I insist, when you read things like that, you wonder why the Democrats insist with such passion to raise the taxes on hard-working American taxpayer.
Because this says, again, that there was no balance, no appropriate balance between the efforts to assist community development and the need to assure that the Federal taxpayers received reasonable consideration for property transferred to the local CROs. In fact, the audit says, we found that the taxpayers were frequently shortchanged in this process.

Yet, the Democrats want to raise the hard-working American people's taxes to do more of this kind of thing.

The audit continues, it says, In February 2002, a rig was, a drill rig was sold to the local CRO for $50,000 that is now being offered for sale by an out-of-state equipment broker for $3.9 million. You better believe the taxpayer was shortchanged and, yet, the Democrats insist on wanting to raise the taxes of the American people. It said that this group transferred hundreds of pieces of equipment, including trucks, office machines and trailers, purchased, by the way, by taxpayers, to the CROs for $1 per transfer. And this is the part which is even harder to believe, Mr. Speaker.

It said, it provided laboratory equipment to the CRO that was needed at another department site, ultimately causing the Department to spend $2.5 million to replace the equipment that they had basically given away. Another $2.5 million to purchase that equipment a second time because it was given away. Nothing happens.

Now, the President is trying to change that, and he is aggressively trying to change that. We are going to have a debate tomorrow in the Committee on the Budget where we are going to try to stop this abuse. We are going to try to cut waste, fraud, and abuse. I hope that our dear friends on the Democratic side this year, for a change, do not propose amendments to raise taxes, to increase spending, but will join us in trying to cut waste, protect the American taxpayer. I do not have great faith, because they have not done so. That is not in their culture and their tradition.

I hope they do so, because the American taxpayer is fed up with waste, fraud, and abuse. They want help in cutting that waste, fraud, and abuse. All of us are going to have a great opportunity tomorrow in the Committee on the Budget in the
markup.

I hope our dear friends on the Democratic side will not side with the constant increases of taxes, and will side with us to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, to seriously try to control that part of the budget, not increase taxes, not increase spending, spending more money, more good over bad over good over bad money, but will join us to not raise taxes as they have always wanted to do, but instead will join us to keep the taxes low, to keep the child credits intact, to keep the death penalty tax from going up. As one of our colleagues said, there at least should be no taxation without respiration. And they will have an opportunity tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, let us see what they will do. I hope that they will join us in fighting for the taxpayer, not fighting for more waste and more tax increases.