Broad coalition urges Congress to create Committee to Reduce Government Waste
| The Honorable Pat Roberts109 Hart Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510 | The Honorable Jeff Duncan116 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515 |
Dear Senator Roberts and Congressman Duncan,
We write to encourage your colleagues to cosponsor and otherwise support your bill to create the Committee to Reduce Government Waste. This bill signals a serious step toward reforming federal spending and provides prudent lawmakers with an important tool to decrease the size of government.
The Committee to Reduce Government Waste is not a new idea—in fact, the committee existed first in the 77th Congress after it was proposed by Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. (D-Va.). Named after its creator, the “Byrd Committee” was tasked solely with cutting unnecessary and redundant federal programs and was able to enact real reform—the Committee netted over $38 billion in savings (in adjusted dollars) in its first few years of existence.
Created in 1941, the Committee was integral in dialing back some of the exponential New Deal growth in government. After years of explosive government growth thanks to “stimulus” programs, bank bailouts and healthcare takeovers, American taxpayers could benefit greatly from a similar effort aimed at decreasing the burden of government.
Your bill would create a Standing Committee that would focus solely on eliminating the redundancies and inefficiencies that add to the cost of government. While several committees exist today that encourage and promote new spending, this Committee would have the unique responsibility of decreasing outlays and finding savings. Tasked with this singular goal, the Committee could pave the way for significant spending reform.
The bickering over the past few months over a two percent cut in federal spending shows that fiscal restraint is hard to come by. Institutional changes, such as implementing a committee focused only on cutting spending, is the only way to ensure lasting reform for taxpayers.
Thus, we urge support of your bill to create the Committee to Reduce Government Waste, and look forward to working with you in the 113th Congress to promote fiscal responsibility.
Sincerely,
| Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform | Dr. Adrian Moore, Vice President, Reason Foundation |
| Amy Kremer, Chairman, Tea Party Express | Andrew Moylan, Senior Fellow, R Street Institute |
| Chris Chocola, President, Club for Growth | Duane Parde, President, National Taxpayers Union |
| Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Vice President of Policy, Competitive Enterprise Institute | Brian Burch, President, CatholicVote.org |
| Mattie Duppler, Executive Director, Cost of Government Center | Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment |
| Andrew F. Quinlan, President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity | Chip Faulkner, Associate Director, Citizens for Limited Taxation (MA) |
| James Valvo, Director of Policy, Americans for Prosperity | Chuck Muth, President, Citizen Outreach |
| Colin A. Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring | Phyllis Schlafly, Founder and President, Eagle Forum |
| Stan Veuger, Research Fellow in Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute | David Williams, President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance |
| Dee Stewart, President, Americans for a Balanced Budget | Forest Thigpen, President, Mississippi Center for Public Policy |
| George Landrith, President, Frontiers of Freedom | Gregory T. Angelo, Executive Director, Log Cabin Republicans |
| John Palatiello, President, Business Coalition for Fair Competition | Judson Phillips, Founder, Tea Party Nation |
| Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council | Kathryn A. Serkes, CEO & Chairman, Doctor Patient Medical Association and Patient Power Alliance |
| Kevin P. Kane, President, Pelican Institute for Public Policy | Stephen Ellis, Vice President, Taxpayers for Common Sense |
| John Hood, President, John Locke Foundation | Al Cardenas, President, American Conservative Union |
| Mario H. Lopez, President, Hispanic Leadership Fund | Jim Martin, Chairman, 60 Plus Association |
| Myron Ebell, President, Freedom Action | Jonathan Bydlak, President, Coalition to Reduce Spending |
| Rich Danker, Economics Director, American Principles Project | Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com |
| Rick Watson, Chairman, Center-Right Coalition of Florida | Sam Slom, President, Smart Business Hawaii (SBH) |
| Seton Motley, President, Less Government | Susan A. Carleson, Chairman & CEO, American Civil Rights Union |
| Brian Baker, President, Ending Spending | Lisa Miller, Chairman, Tea Party WDC |
| Jeff Mazzella, President, Center for Individual Freedom | Tina M. Pisenti, Executive Vice President & COO, Cascade Policy Institute |
Cc: All Members of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives
Affiliations listed for identification purposes
