Good
afternoon
folks
-
With
each
Iowans'
share
of
the
national
debt surpassing
$60,000,
one
of
my
top
priorities
in
the
Senate
is
to
find
ways
to
eliminate
wasteful
spending
and
inefficiencies
throughout
the
federal
government.
We
simply
can't
afford to
support
Washington's
reckless
spending
habits.
That's
why I
give
out
the
Squeal
Award each
month
to call
out a
Washington
expense,
program
or
area
of
waste that
must
be
cut.
Squeal
Award:
EPA’s
Reckless
WOTUS
Publicity
Spending
Last
December,
the
Government
Accountability
Office
(GAO)
the
“congressional
watchdog”
responsible
for
investigating
how
the
federal
government
spends
taxpayer
dollars
issued
a
report
that
found
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency’s
(EPA)
social
media
campaign
to
promote
its
flawed
expansion
of
the
Waters
of
the
U.S.
Rule
(WOTUS)
broke
the
law.
As
I
said,
the
EPA
was
on
shaky
legal
ground
when
it
decided
to
use
taxpayer
dollars
to
lobby
the
American
public
to
support
its
harmful
WOTUS
rule.
The
agency
used
election-style
tactics
in
an
effort
to
gain
support
for
this
misguided
rule,
and
the
GAO
called
the
EPA
out
for
its
egregious,
and
illegal
actions.
It
is
clearer
than
ever
that
the
ill-conceived
WOTUS
rule
is
nothing
more
than
a
blatant
power
grab
by
an
agency
that
is
committed
to
expanding
its
reach
over
Iowa.
Now,
at
the
request
of
Senate
Budget
Chairman
Mike
Enzi,
a
new
GAO report uncovered that the EPA increased
their
public
relations
staff
by
16
percent
in
less
than
10
years,
to
a
total
of
142
employees
solely
dedicated
to
pushing
the
EPA's
message.
With
our
national
debt
exceeding
$19
trillion, taxpayers
should
not
be
forced
to
bankroll
an
illegal
public
relations
campaign
for
the
EPA’s
reckless
and
out
of
touch
agenda
that
promotes
harmful
regulations.
I
remain
committed
to
scrapping
the
EPA’s
WOTUS
rule
entirely,
but
until
then,
I
hereby
present
this
month’s
Squeal
Award
to
the
EPA.
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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