Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today applauded Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) dedication to government oversight and identification of wasteful spending.  The senator recently released a report on the dubious spending at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), “For the Farmers or for Fun: USDA Spends Over $90 Million on Conferences.”

“____,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “______.”

According to the report, conference spending at the USDA increased almost 200 percent since 2000 and in 2006 alone 20,959 USDA employees went to 6,719 conferences world-wide.  Among the more extravagant expenditures were: $254,755 to send 213 employees to 94 conferences in Las Vegas in 2006; $13,475 to send six USDA employees to a conference at a beach resort and spa in Hawaii; and a conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort which included a martini bar, cigar reception and a golf event.

“Would you ever spend that money on yourself, if, in fact, you had a tight budget and you were borrowing what money you didn’t have from your grandkids?  Nobody in their right mind would do that,” Sen. Coburn told CBS News on a May 16 broadcast.

The report recommends a conference justification test and more transparency online.

“______,” concluded Schatz.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government