March 23, 2015

The Committee on Rules
U.S. House of Representatives
H-312 The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Rules Committee Member,

When the House Rules Committee meets this evening to discuss the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Budget Resolution, including a possible self-executing rule that may change certain provisions of the bill, you may be considering two  proposals of vital concern to the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW).  On behalf of our 1.2 million members and supporters, I urge you to retain the following two provisions, which are critical to CCAGW’s continued support of the budget resolution: Title III and Title V, Section 513.

Title III requires House committees identified in the bill to submit “findings identifying changes within their jurisdiction that would achieve specified savings through the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse.”  In order to help achieve that objective, the Comptroller General shall submit to the House Budget Committee a comprehensive report identifying for each of the committees “any legislative changes to improve the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of programs within their jurisdiction.”  This provision of the budget makes it clear that the House is serious about cutting wasteful spending.  Changes to Title III that diminish or remove that objective would send the opposite message. 

Title V establishes 10 reserve funds for various purposes, include a deficit-neutral reserve fund in Section 513 that applies to a portion of the overseas contingency operation/global war on terrorism (OCO) funding.  There is a total of $94 billion in OCO funds, and the first $74.5 billion is not offset.  That means that Congress must find savings of $19.5 billion, or $1.95 billion per year over the next 10 years, in order to reach the full $94 billion.  Including the OCO funds, the Pentagon is being provided with $617 billion under the FY 2016 Budget Resolution.  Surely, no one can credibly argue that savings equal to .03 percent of the defense budget cannot be achieved (and that percentage will be even lower as defense spending increases each year in the next 10 years).  Cutting wasteful defense spending is not only achievable, it is necessary in order for the House to be considered fiscally conservative.  You may recall that 27 conservative leaders sent a letter to then-Leader Boehner and then-Leader McConnell on November 30, 2010, urging them to “institute principled spending reform that rejects the notion that spending cuts can be avoided in certain parts of the federal budget.”  There was a specific reference to the “protected status” of the Department of Defense, which had “allowed the Pentagon to waste billions in taxpayer money.”  While this letter does not speak for the other signers of that letter, it is doubtful that their views have changed.

We urge you to retain Title III and Title V, Section 513 as approved by the Budget Committee.  If these provisions are not retained, CCAGW will seriously reconsider its support of an otherwise praiseworthy budget resolution when it reaches the floor of the House this week.  All votes on the FY 2016 Budget Resolution will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2015 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW