Good
afternoon
folks
-
Iowans
sent
me
to
Congress
with
a
mission
to
cut
wasteful
spending,
and
with
our
national
debt
exceeding
$19
trillion,
now
more
than
ever,
we
must
make
Washington
squeal.
That's
why
each
month,
I
research
and
identify
areas
of
government
waste,
abuse
and
inefficiencies
and
give
out the
Squeal
Award,
which
recognizes
a
Washington
expense
or program
that
has
proven
to
be
wasteful
and
must
be
cut.
Squeal
Award:
Former
Wealthy
Presidents'
Perks
Under
the
Former
Presidents
Act,
federal
funding
is
provided
to
former
presidents
to
cover
costs
associated
with
life
after
the
White
House.
While
this
program
was
initially
intended
to
"maintain
the
dignity"
of
former
presidents,
today's
post-presidential
life
is filled
with
book
deals
and
speaking
fees
and has
proven
to
be
financially
lucrative
for
former
presidents.
Taxpayers
should
not
be
on
the
hook
for
wealthy
former
presidents’
lives
to
the
tune
of
millions
of
dollars.
In
fiscal
year
2015,
former
U.S.
presidents
cost
taxpayers
more
than
$2.4
million
in
travel,
office
space,
communications,
personnel,
and
other
expenses.
What's
worse,
according
to
Politico,
by
election
day
this
year,
"taxpayers
will
have
paid
out
more
than
$16
million
to
fund
Bill
Clinton's
pension,
travel,
office
expenses
and
even
the
salaries
and
benefits
of
staff
at
his
family's
foundation."
This
is
truly
outrageous,
particularly
at
a
time
when
every
citizen’s
individual
share
of
the
national
debt
is
nearly
$60,000.
That's
why
I
introduced
the
Presidential
Allowance
Modernization
Act to
reform
this
flawed
benefit
system
by
cutting
many
of
these
unnecessary
perks,
while
ensuring
the
security
given
to
former
presidents
and
their
families
is
not
impacted.
While
I
was
pleased
my
colleagues
on
both
sides
of
the
aisle
in
Congress
joined
me
in
sending
this
bill
to
President
Obama's
desk,
I
was
extremely
disappointed
he
decided
to
maintain
the
unsustainable
status-quo
and
vetoed
this
legislation.
We
must
prioritize
protecting
taxpayers'
hard-earned
dollars
over
subsidizing
wealthy
former
presidents'
personal
lives
and
careers. I
realize
this
legislation
may
not
be
popular
among
former
presidents,
but
reducing
this
spending
is
the
right
thing
to
do. I
made
a
promise
to
Iowans
that
I
would
identify
and
cut
waste,
and
I
will
continue
that
mission,
no
matter
how
unpopular
it
may
be
among
the
political
class.
Because
of
this
wasteful
and
unnecessary spending,
I
hereby
present
presidential
perks
with
this
month’s
Squeal
Award.
Do
you
have
an
example
of
government
waste
or
inefficiencies
that
I
should
take
a
look
at?
Send
me
an
email
by clicking
here.
Thank
you!
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