June 27, 2012

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

You will soon consider H.R. 5972, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Act of 2013. On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support the following amendments:

• Rep. Jeff Denham’s (R-Calif.) amendment, which would prohibit funds from being used for high-speed rail in the state of California or for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. High-Speed rail projects have a long history of overly rosy construction cost projections and ridership expectations, which often produce a deceptive picture of just how large a financial burden these projects will place on taxpayers.

• Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) amendment, which would enact a 1 percent across the board cut to discretionary funding. This spending reduction would save taxpayers $516 million, and is the absolute minimum that Congress should cut from this bill.

• Rep. Tom McClintock’s (R-Calif.) amendment, which would prohibit funding for the Central Subway Program. According to internal program forecasts and the Federal Transit Administration, the new subway will never generate sufficient revenue to cover its operating and maintenance costs, let alone recover the initial federal capital outlays.

These amendments would eliminate or reduce funding from profligate government-funded programs that Americans do not need and taxpayers simply cannot afford. All votes on H.R. 5972 will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2012 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW