Amendment 2304 to Donate Vehicles Traded In To Poor Families in the Community and to Charities
The “Cash for Clunkers” program (Clunkers) currently requires all vehicle trade-ins to be destroyed and even prohibits the selling of certain car parts like the engine. This is even true for cars that are in great condition and new cars that have low gas mileage. In fact, in a dealership in El Reno, OK, one truck that had to be destroyed had an almost new engine with less than 10,000 miles. This requirement unfairly hurts the poor and many of the charities that fill an important need in serving the poor. This amendment would ensure such needless destruction is not required anymore at the expense of the poor and charities and that, instead, traded-in vehicles may be donated to charities and poor families within the community and continue to serve a useful purpose in our society.
Click here for additional background information.
Read the Lutheran Services in America letter of support here.
Click here to view the amendment text.
The Agriculture appropriations bill provides significant spending increases at a time when our country faces grave fiscal challenges. Total Spending FY 2010- $124.2 billion (14.5% increase over FY 2009) FY 2009- $108.1 billion (20.8% increase over FY 2008) Stimulus- $26.5 billion FY 2008- $90.7 billion Discretionary Spending FY 2010- $23.3 billion This represents a 12.7% increase over FY 2009 discretionary spending. Mandatory Spending FY 2010- $100.8 billion This is a 15% increase over FY 2009 mandatory spending.
Amendment 2243-Stimulus Double Dipping Programs in this bill received more than $26 billion in the 2009 Stimulus legislation. Many of these programs are now receiving another full annual appropriation for FY 2010 only a few months later. In some cases, certain programs and accounts will have received the equivalent of three years' appropriation when totaling funds from FY 2009 appropriations, the Stimulus, and now the FY 2010 appropriation. Amendment 2244-Digital Television Funding Elimination The transition from analog to digital broadcasting is largely complete and entirely complete among high-powered broadcasters. Transition assistance is currently being addressed by at least three existing federal initiatives. The President, in his FY 2010 Budget, proposed to eliminate USDA's Rural Development Public Television Grant Program, because it is duplicative of these existing efforts. This amendment would save taxpayers $4.9 million and streamline federal initiatives to address the digital transition. Amendment 2245-Specialty Cheese The bill provides $3 million to support development and expansion of the specialty cheese industry, of which $2 million is directed to Wisconsin and $1 million to Vermont. Specialty and Artisanal cheese has become popular in the United States. This growing popularity reflects the quality of cheese production and underscores the fact that government intervention or interference is not needed for the success of this growing industry. This amendment would eliminate funding for specialty cheese and save taxpayers $5 million. Amendment 2246-USDA Conference Spending In 2001, USDA spent $6 million on conferences. Within five years, this amount more than tripled to $19 million in 2006. This amendment would cap the amount spent on conferences by USDA at $12 million next year, which is twice the amount spent in 2001 but million less than what the Department has been spending every year since. This amendment will ensure USDA has more than enough funds to pay for gatherings and meetings while ensuring that more federal resources are available for our nation's agriculture priorities. Amendment 2247/2248-Competitive Bidding The federal government awards hundreds of billions of dollars annually in contracts and grants. It is becoming a common practice for agencies and Congress to bypass the federal process for competitively awarding contracts and grants. During his campaign for President, Barack Obama pledged to change the way Washington spends taxpayers' money, in part, by eliminating no bid contracts. This amendment would require that all grants and contracts (and earmarks-#2247) awarded under this act be competitively bid. This amendment would ensure that members of Congress and the federal government are good stewards of taxpayer dollars and support the President in his efforts to eliminate no-bid contracts.
Read Dr. Coburn's oversight report on the USDA's Wasteful Conference Spending here.
FY 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations Total Spending: $34.27 billion This is a 3.1% increase over the FY 2009 regular appropriations spending level. In FY 2009, the Energy and Water appropriations bill provided a 7.7% increase over the FY 2008 level. The bill funds 770 earmarks, costing $976.5 million. Dr. Coburn filed the following amendment to the legislation: Reducing DOE Energy Usage Amendment 1879 – To reduce the appropriation for Departmental Administration of the Department of Energy so that the Department can set an example for all Americans by reducing unnecessary energy usage The Department of Energy is designated as the lead federal agency for energy efficiency efforts. In this role, the Department coordinates energy efficiency efforts for all federal agencies, and also it is also the primary outlet for federal energy efficiency programs and enforcement for the private sector. Despite this central role, the Department is the largest consumer of energy among all federal civilian agencies (excluding the postal service) and unlike most other agencies, has actually increased its energy usage in the most recent reporting period. The Department of Energy’s Inspector General found at least $13.8 million in wasted energy costs due to inefficient technology and poor temperature controls at the agency. This amendment would reduce administrative funds at the Department of Energy by $13.8 million in order to encourage them to lead by example in reducing their energy usage.
Competitive Bidding Amendment 1884 – Requires all contracts, grants awarded under this act be competitively bid. This amendment would require all contracts and grants awarded under this act to be competitively bid.
Presidential Terminations Amendment 1883 – To support the President’s effort to reduce unnecessary government spending by eliminating funding for waste water environmental infrastructure projects the Administration has proposed for termination. President Obama has called for eliminating “Environmental Infrastructure Construction” funded by the Corps (sewage and wastewater projects). According to his calculations, eliminating these projects would result in a savings of $180 million. This amendment would support the President’s budget and his efforts to reign in government spending by eliminating funding in the bill for environmental infrastructure projects and transferring the savings to the account for Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies, which provides funds for preparedness activities for natural and other disasters, response, and emergency flood fighting and rescue operations, hurricane response, and emergency shore protection work. Amendment 1881 - To support the President’s effort to reduce unnecessary government spending by eliminating the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center Refurbishment project, which the Administration has proposed for termination. In his FY 2010 budget, the President proposed terminating the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center Refurbishment (LANSCE) project in New Mexico stating its mission has largely been completed, and it no longer plays a critical role in scientific research. This amendment would support the President’s budget and his efforts to reduce federal spending and eliminate the funding for this project, which the Administration has argued “is mostly used by organizations outside of NNSA who do not pay the full costs of its operations, [and as such] Operational costs must be subsidized by the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA).” Amendment 1882 – To support the President’s effort to reduce unnecessary government spending by eliminating funding for low-performing Corps construction projects. President Obama has called for eliminating “Low Performing Corps Construction Projects.” According to the Administration, eliminating these projects would result in a savings of $244 million. This amendment would support the President’s budget by reducing the Corps general construction account by $244 million in order to ensure that low-performing Corps construction projects are not funded this year. Amendment 1880 — To support the President’s effort to reduce unnecessary government spending by reducing funding the Nuclear Power 2010 demonstration program, which the Administration has proposed for termination. In his FY 200 budget, the President proposed terminating the Nuclear Power 2010 demonstration program, stating that the “program has largely accomplished its intended purpose to help industry overcome regulatory uncertainties,” and citing severe cost overruns. The President’s budget provides the program with $20 million “as a final contribution to this cost-shared effort with industry, which was announced in 2002.” However, this bill funds the program at $120 million, a $100 million increase over the President’s request. This amendment would limit funding the Energy and Water appropriations bill to for the Nuclear Power 2010 demonstration program to $20 million, as requested by the President.
Public Disclosure of Reports Required in the Appropriations Bill Amendment 1878 — To require the public disclosure of reports required in the appropriations bill This amendment would require that any report required to be submitted by a federal agency or department to the Committee on Appropriations of either the Senate or the House of Representatives in an appropriations act be posted on the public website of that committee upon receipt by the committee.
Dr. Coburn recently sent a letter to Peter Orszag that asks the administration to explain the specific performance measurements and outcomes that the administration has established for each American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program being implemented. Click here to view the entire letter.
Total Spending: $44.28 billion The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill provides a 7 percent increase for the agency over the FY 2009 spending level. In FY 2009, DHS received a 6.2 percent increase over FY 2008. In FY 2008, DHS received a 23.2 percent increase over FY 2007. The DHS appropriations bill contains 23 congressional earmarks, costing $156 million. The bill also contains 8 earmarks requested by the president, costing $160 million.
To view a map of the United States with each earmark plotted on the map, click here
Dr. Coburn's Amendments to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill:
1. Amendment ___ – Requires all contracts, grants awarded under this act be competitively bid. This amendment would require all contracts and grants awarded under this act to be competitively bid.
Click here for additional background on the amendment
2. Prohibit the Payment of Bonuses to Government Contractors for Poor Performance Taxpayers are outraged that in a time of economic crisis where working families are losing their jobs and making hard choices about how they spend their money, the federal government continues to pay out bonuses and award fees for contractors who perform unsatisfactory work. This amendment would prohibit DHS from paying out bonuses to government contractors that have failed to complete their contract work in a satisfactory manner. The federal government has awarded billions of dollars of examples unwarranted federal bonuses over the past decade. The Department of Homeland Security could save taxpayers millions of dollars every year by linking award fees to outcomes and adding transparency to how federal bonuses are awarded.
Click here Bonus Fee amendment background
The amendment requires the budget expenditures of every Senate office to be posted on-line in a publicly searchable format. The Legislative Branch appropriations bill provides billions of taxpayer dollars to fund the day to day operations of Congress, including both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Unfortunately, much of the information on how Congress spends its budget is not currently available on-line for the public to review. To remedy this, Speaker Pelosi has initiated an effort to post House expenditures on-line. However, despite the fact that the Secretary of the Senate publishes a biannual report detailing Senate office expenditures, the Senate has yet to post this information on-line as a first step toward transparency and accountability to taxpayers for how it spends their money. Without requiring any additional burdensome reporting requirements, this amendment would require the Secretary to post on-line, all expenditures by every Senate office, in a searchable format, within 60 days after the publication of the biannual expenditures report. In addition, the Secretary would no longer be required to print bound copies of the report, which would lead to savings in printing costs. Click here to read the entire background.
Senator Tom Coburn released a new report identifying 100 questionable stimulus projects. By offering 100 examples of questionable stimulus projects, worth $5.5 billion, this report does not attempt to prove that the stimulus is not working. Rather, the intent is to educate taxpayers, policymakers and the media on lessons that can be learned from some of the early missteps and prevent other questionable projects from moving forward. (Direct link to report) As Congress debated the stimulus bill in February, there were significant concerns that billions of dollars would be wasted and the bill was rushed to passage without a single member of Congress reading it. This waste is troubling both for its short-term failure to put Americans back to work and for its long-term fiscal impact on the nation. Our current national debt exceeds $11 trillion and the Congressional Budget Office projects more than $1 trillion will be added per year to it for the next decade, in large part due to stimulus spending. Top Ten Projects:
Click here to read an update following the release of the report.
Amendment 1225: Requires the Food and Drug Administration to regulate state-legalized marijuana in the same manner as other drugs marketed for medical purposes, as well as marijuana products intended to be consumed as a cigarette in the same way the underlying bill regulates tobacco. Also applies the “Synar Amendment” to marijuana—current law which requires States to take action against retailers that sell tobacco to minors.
Click here for additional background information on amendment 1225.
Amendment 1226: Requires GAO to perform an independent study of FDA’s tobacco regulatory activities to determine their effectiveness. Specifically, this amendment would require GAO to assess whether the express goals of this legislation are being accomplished.
Click here for additional background information on amendment 1226.
Amendment 1227: This amendment expands on the provision in this bill that applies these regulations to Indian Tribes and eliminates a provision that would restrict the Secretary’s ability to impose “no-sale” determinations on non-complying tribal retailers.
Click here for additional background information on amendment 1227.