Senator Rubio & Congressman Price Introduce Bill Targeting $45 Billion In Unspent Money
Press Release
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) today introduced the Decrease Spending Now Act, which would require the Obama administration to cut $45 billion in unused taxpayer dollars sitting in federal coffers. If enacted, this fiscally conservative legislation requires that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescind funds from unobligated balances of discretionary appropriations and report to Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury on these efforts within 60 days.
The legislation would not affect discretionary funds for the Defense Department, Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration.
"Washington's reckless spending culture has produced this situation where hundreds of billions of dollars are borrowed and then left unspent because Congress routinely bites off more than it can chew," said Rubio. "Let's reform the spending culture in Washington so that unspent and unnecessarily borrowed money is rescinded and dedicated to pay down the debt, instead of letting it sit around until someone decides to spend it."
"There's no question that Washington has a spending problem, and it is contributing to a growing mountain of debt that threatens our economy and the future prosperity of our nation," said Congressman Price. "Leaving billions of taxpayer dollars to gather dust in federal coffers only encourages fiscal irresponsibility. By rescinding this unspent and unobligated money -- funds that the government can clearly do without -- we can contribute to the larger goal of breaking the government's habit of borrowing and spending money we cannot afford."
The bill's original Senate co-sponsors include Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), John McCain (R-AZ), Jim Risch (R-ID), John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA). The bill's original House co-sponsors include Larry Bucshon (R-IN), John Culberson (R-TX), Bill Flores (R-TX), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Mike Pompeo (R-KS), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), and Joe Wilson (R-SC).
The bill is also endorsed by the National Taxpayer Union.
Source