Butterfield's Surplus Equipment Bill Wins House Approval

Press Release

Butterfield's Surplus Equipment Bill Wins House Approval

Congressman G. K. Butterfield's legislation aimed at providing poor, rural communities with needed surplus federal electronic equipment at little or no cost was approved by the House today.

The bipartisan Federal Electronic Equipment Donation Act of 2007 (FEED Act), H.R. 752, was approved by unanimous consent, and the bill now moves on to the Senate for consideration.

"The federal government spends an enormous amount of money on electronic equipment," Butterfield said. "When that equipment becomes slightly outdated, it shouldn't sit idle or go to waste when there are so many needy small cities, towns, counties, schools and libraries that can still put it to good use."

Butterfield put the legislation forward last year after Roper, N.C. Mayor Bunny Sanders contacted the office for help in securing used federal surplus electronic equipment for its Technology Center. Butterfield explained that while an executive order directing surplus federal equipment to communities, the process was mired in red tape and lacked the force of law.

The FEED Act would streamline the process for donating excess and surplus electronic equipment to small cities, towns, counties, schools, libraries and community-based educational non-profit organizations. Butterfield said the legislation provides preference to poorer communities, which often have the greatest needs.

The act would direct federal agencies to send surplus equipment to the General Services Administration (GSA), which would then handle the logistics of transferring the equipment to qualifying recipient at little or no cost.

Butterfield said that the bill is particularly important to communities in eastern North Carolina and could be an important tool in building the electronic infrastructure for local governments, schools, libraries and educational non-profits.

"Many of the communities I represent need every bit of help they can get, and hopefully this will free up some resources that can be used to address other pressing needs," Butterfield said.

Butterfield pointed out that a great deal of money is spent by federal agencies on electronic equipment required to meet their needs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's budget alone, for example, includes more than $110 million in annual technology-related costs.

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