Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste today released its preliminary analysis of the House version of the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Commerce, Justice, and Science Act.  The bill provides $50.2 billion in funding for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies.  The bill’s cost to taxpayers is $3.1 billion or 6 percent below the FY 2011 level and $7.4 billion or 13 percent below the President’s request.

On June 6, 2011, Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf stated, “I believe the subcommittee mark achieves significant spending reduction goals while at the same time preserving core priorities. Within a tight allocation, we have focused resources on the most critical areas – fighting crime and terrorism; and boosting U.S. competitiveness through investments in science.”  However, after combing through the bill in search of opportunities to cut wasteful spending, CAGW found room for additional savings.  CAGW compared the FY 2012 Commerce, Justice, and Science bill to the 691 recommendations contained in its 2011 Prime Cuts database and found six significant spending cuts that, if enacted, would save taxpayers $1 billion in FY 2012 and $5 billion over five years.

“The Prime Cuts database gives the public, the President, and Congress a very straightforward list of wasteful, duplicative, and outdated programs drawn from more than two dozen credible sources,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “All that is missing is the political leadership to eliminate these boondoggles using the budget process and the veto pen.”

CAGW’s Prime Cuts database is a compendium of 691 waste-cutting recommendations that would save taxpayers $391.9 billion in the first year and $1.8 trillion over five years.

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