Fitzpatrick, Bustos Reintroduce Bipartisan Effort To Cut Government Waste

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8) and Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) Wednesday introduced the Government Waste Reduction Act, a common sense bill to root out waste in government and reduce duplicative services.

"Cutting down on government waste is a step in the right direction as we strive to get our fiscal house in order without jeopardizing essential programs," said Fitzpatrick. "By working together, we can follow through on waste reduction plans already in place -- giving us common ground to begin the larger discussion on reining in government spending and reducing our $18 trillion national debt.

"As a member of No Labels, I'm proud to once again introduce this smart legislation with Congresswoman Bustos and increase the number of members looking to fix the way Washington spends, not just fight."

This bipartisan bill moves forward on recommendations the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) made in reports to Congress--recommendations that, without further action, will simply continue to gather dust and not save a dime for American taxpayers.

For example, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate they could achieve $21 billion in savings as a result of implementing widespread use of fraud detection systems. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimate that enhancing online services, such as providing taxpayers with the ability to access account information, would produce hundreds of millions of dollars in savings through operational efficiencies.

"Reducing our national debt and deficit is one of my top priorities as a Member of Congress," said Bustos. "However, I refuse to balance our budget on the backs of working families, seniors and veterans. My common sense bill, the Government Waste Reduction Act, represents a bipartisan first step towards attacking our national debt by targeting waste and duplicative government services while protecting critical programs for the middle class. I am proud to reintroduce this measure and look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move our nation to sounder fiscal footing."

The Fitzpatrick-Bustos bill is an enhanced and updated version of a similar bill introduced in the 113th Congress. The bill includes two additional GAO reports that were released since the original 2013 bill introduction, as well as a mechanism to further evaluate government efficiency and set up a repository for best practices to support agencies in efforts to improve effectiveness.

Specifically, the Government Waste Reduction Act would:

Establish the Independent Government Waste Reduction Board which would be tasked with developing legislative proposals related to the GAO recommendations;

Assess federal programs for economy, efficiency and effectiveness; and

Set up a repository for best practices to support agencies in efforts to improve effectiveness.

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