(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz will testify tomorrow, February 17, 2011, before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is convening the hearing to explore “Waste and Abuse: The Refuse of the Federal Spending Binge,” which coincides with the release of the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) biennial High-Risk Report.  That report details federal programs and policies which are at increased risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.

Witnesses include the GAO’s Comptroller of the United States Gene Dodaro; Dr. Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at Mercatus Center at George Mason University; Debra Cammer, vice president and partner of IBM Public Sector; Vincent Frakes, federal policy manager for the Center for Health Transformation; Gary Kalman, director of US PIRG’s Federal Legislative Office; and Andrew Moylan, vice president, Government Affairs for the National Taxpayers Union.

“The GAO’s High-Risk Report is an essential tool for taxpayers and members of Congress when assessing the value and advisability of trillions in government spending,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “Especially at this decisive moment, when Congress is on the brink of making critically important decisions on where to cut funding or eliminate programs, this hearing will help lay the groundwork for a resurgence of rational federal budgeting.  We urge Chairman Issa to continue to hold hearings of this nature throughout the session.”  The 2011 High-Risk Report will update its 2009 material, which illuminated weaknesses and deficiencies in 21 areas of government spending, including program areas in NASA, the Department of Defense (DOD), Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Schatz will discuss CAGW’s Prime Cuts, a database of 763 recommendations which, if enacted, would save taxpayers $350 billion in the first year and $2.2 trillion over five years.  Schatz’s testimony highlights dozens of wasteful programs, such as the earmarked funding for the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; continued funding for boondoggles such as the Essential Air Service, which has provided exorbitant subsidies to continue service to communities that would otherwise not be profitable; the Agriculture Department’s Market Access Program, which subsidizes profitable corporations to advertise their products abroad; and the NASA Constellation Program, which, despite having spent more than $10 billion, is no closer to sending an astronaut to space than it was when the program began.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.  To learn more, visit www.cagw.org.