Gao Study: Billions of Dollars Going to Waste

Floor Speech

(Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal reported on the study by the Government Accountability Office revealing bloated budgets in government programs. The study examined a number of Federal agencies and found duplicative overlaps leading to wasteful spending of the taxpayers' money. The GAO found inefficiencies with 82 Federal programs to improve teacher quality, 56 programs to help people gain a working knowledge of finances, and 47 Federal programs for job training and employment. The study concluded that the effectiveness of many of these programs has not been assessed.

At a time when the President proposes trillion-dollar deficits, the Federal Government cannot afford to be throwing away the people's money on wasteful programs. Efficiency should be at the forefront of all Federal spending to promote small-business job creation. I commend the efforts of Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma for being a driving force behind the study to uncover the overlapping of these programs.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism.

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