FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 17, 2021
Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) passed the Duplication Reduction and Scoring Act, introduced by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), ranking member of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight (ETSO) subcommittee. This legislation seeks to identify potential duplication in government before it happens, so that members of Congress can be more aware of potential new areas of waste.
U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), chair of the ETSO subcommittee, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK), and U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) joined Dr. Paul in reintroducing the legislation.
The bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review each piece of legislation reported out of a committee to determine if it poses a risk of producing more duplication in areas of government where the GAO has already identified such problems in one of its duplication reports.
“As we fight to rein in current wasteful spending, this reform would better enable Congress to make more fully informed decisions and stop waste before it ever happens. The fact this bipartisan legislation would be blocked from passing by unanimous consent highlights Washington’s spending addiction,” said Dr. Paul.
“This commonsense bill will help prevent wasteful government spending before it happens,” said Senator Hassan. “Granite Staters expect us to put their hard-earned taxpayer dollars to good use, and I will keep working across the aisle on efforts like this to strengthen government efficiency.”
“Why would we spend more of our constituents’ hard-earned tax dollars on federal projects and programs that are duplicative? That makes no sense. This straightforward bill has bipartisan support, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t become law,” said Senator Ernst.
“There is no reason to waste hard-working Americans’ dollars on completely avoidable duplication and overlap in federal programs, but Congress can’t fix what it can’t see,” said Senator Lankford. “Duplication is inefficient and ineffective government at its core. We should pass this bill immediately to help prevent the creation of duplicative programs before bills move through Congress, not wait to find the overlap after they become law.”
“Washington is dysfunctional, full of overlapping programs and duplicative spending that leads to waste and inefficiencies. Our nation is heading toward $30 trillion in debt, and we have to get serious about how taxpayer dollars are spent. Our bill will help identify waste in the federal government so we can make Washington work more efficiently for the American people,” said Senator Rick Scott.
You can read the Duplication Reduction and Scoring Act, HERE.
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