(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz testified today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) convened the hearing to explore “Waste in Government: What's Being Done?” and launch a robust congressional waste-cutting agenda for 2014. During the hearing, Schatz described a target-rich environment of wasteful programs and government mismanagement ripe for reform. Other witnesses included the National Taxpayers Union’s Vice President of Government Affairs Brandon Arnold, the CATO Institute’s Director of Tax Policy Studies Chris Edwards, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s Tax and Budget Associate Jaimie Woo.

Schatz also recommended that Congress establish a “New Grace Commission,” modeled after President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 Private Sector Survey on Cost Control Commission, popularly known as the Grace Commission, named for its chairman and CAGW’s co-founder, business scion J. Peter Grace (1913-1995). A 21st century successor commission would conduct in-depth reviews of the federal agency missions and operations, evaluate all potential improvements, and seek out innovative, best-in-class solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce costs. Schatz also urged Congress to make good use of the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) three annual reports (2011, 2012, and 2013) focusing on duplicative and overlapping federal programs. S. Res. 427, first introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) in the 112th Congress and reintroduced on April 4, 2013, would immediately stymie the creation of duplicative new programs.

A few examples highlighted by Schatz today are: the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Army’s Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A), a system that has been under development for more than a decade and has cost taxpayers nearly $6 billion; the DOD’s Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), the intended replacement of the patriot missile defense system that has been plagued with cost overruns of nearly $2 billion; Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF), a tax refund fraud scheme that has increased 165 percent in 2012 alone; Medicare improper payments, which rose to $49.9 billion in 2013, up from $44.3 billion in 2012, and management weaknesses in federal Information Technology (IT), the costs of which grew by 76 percent, from $46 billion in 2001 to $81 billion in 2012. These programs have documented histories of dysfunction and have been included in CAGW’s Prime Cuts publication.

“One underlying reason for the consistent failure of the government to improve its efficiency and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse is Congress’s tendency to create a problem to solve a problem,” said Schatz. “By only eliminating or consolidating a few programs every year, the creation of new programs and the expansion of existing programs overwhelm any positive efforts to cut waste. A government that itself is going broke is trying to teach others how to balance their checkbooks,” Schatz continued. “At a crucial moment when the national debt stands at $17.3 trillion and counting, Congress needs to make critically important decisions on where to cut funding or eliminate programs. We urge Chairman Issa to continue to hold hearings of this nature throughout the session.”

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