(Washington, D.C.) –Thomas A. Schatz, President of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), today applauded those members of Congress assembled to discuss progress in combating federal waste, fraud, and abuse, including Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex), Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich (R-Ohio), and  Rep. Steve Horn (R-Calif.). 

“These leaders on the front lines of the battle to reduce wasteful spending need more support to fulfill their mission,” Schatz said.  “We know there are literally hundreds of billions of dollars misspent every year, yet the White House and too many members of Congress turn a blind eye, indicating a careless attitude with the people’s money.”

“Even as these leaders cite the waste and fraud that has been eliminated or reduced, pork barrel projects this year are getting loaded onto Appropriations bills by the thousands, and Congress and the media seem indifferent,” Schatz added.  “We need more members like Reps. Armey, Horn and Kasich who remain committed to the principle of reforming and streamlining what and how government spends, and remember that tax dollars do not belong to the politicians.”

Examples of the waste the congressional lawmakers uncovered:

• Employees at the Clinton-Gore Department of Education claimed $600,000 in bogus overtime pay, and stole $300,000 in electronic equipment over three years. 
• The Agriculture Department's Urban Renewal Project gave millions for soil erosion programs in urban areas that were not authorized, 116 of which had nothing to do with the control and prevention of soil erosion.  For example, the Sierra Club Foundation received $3,500 to fund transportation for outings, and $25,878 went to Catholic Urban Programs Neighborhood Law Office to bring civil lawsuits against derelict property owners. The Forest Service provided an additional $25,878 for this grant.
• The Education Department spent $8.9 million in one year on closed captioning, not only of news and children’s programming, but on mind-enhancing fare like MTV’s Real World, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Jerry Springer.

For more on the pork in individual Appropriations bills, check out the Pork Alerts under “What’s New” at the CAGW website:

http://www.cagw.org

CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.