Good
afternoon
-
Iowans
sent
me
to
Washington
with
a
mission
to
cut
the
wasteful
pork
out
of
our
government
spending
in
order
to
make
the
federal
government
more
efficient.
Our
country
is
now
nearly
$20
trillion
in
debt.
Iowans
can
no
longer
afford
to
bankroll
Washington's
reckless
spending
habits,
which
is
why
I
give
out
the
Squeal
Award
each
month,
and
it’s
also
why
I
introduced
the
Program
Management
Improvement
and
Accountability
Act.
Read more
about
it
below
Squeal
Award:
Inefficient
Government
Program
Management
All
too
often, federal
government
projects
and
programs
run
up
high
costs
or
fall
behind
schedule
due
to
mismanagement
and
a
lack
of
accountability.
In
fact,
recent
reports
have
found
that
many
of
these
failed
projects
are
ultimately
terminated
years
after
implementation,
wasting
billions
of
your
taxpayer
dollars
on
a
project
that
never
even
came
to
fruition. That
is
totally unacceptable!
Just take
a look
at a
few
of these
instances
- The
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
Scheduling
Replacement
Project
was
terminated after
spending
an
estimated
$127
million
over
nine
years.
Despite
spending
nearly
a
decade
attempting
to
modernize
the
department’s
25
year
old
outpatient
scheduling
system,
the
VA
had
not
implemented
any
of
the
planned
system’s
capabilities
and
it
was ultimately scrapped.
- The
Department
of
Homeland
Security’s
Secure
Border
Initiative
Network
program
was
terminated
after
obligating
more
than
$1
billion to
the
program
over
six
years,
because
it
did
not
meet
cost-effectiveness
and
viability
standards.
- The
Department
of
Defense’s
Expeditionary
Combat
Support
System
was
canceled
after
spending
more
than
$1
billion
and
failing
to
deploy
within
five
years
of
initially
obligating
funds.
Iowans
deserve a
more
efficient
and
competent
use
of
their
hard-earned
taxpayer
dollars,
which
is
why
I
introduced the
bipartisan
Program Management
Improvement
and
Accountability
Act
with
Senator
Heidi
Heitkamp
(D-ND).
Our
bill
would require
the
federal
government
to
utilize
best
practices
from
the
private
sector
so
we
can
increase
accountability
and
prevent
the
lax
oversight
that
leads
to
cost
overruns
and
missed
deadlinesmaking
the
federal
government
more
productive
and
cost-effective.
By
improving
program
management,
this
bill
has
the
potential
to
save
billions
of your
hard-earned
dollars.
And
although
it
might
feel
like
Washington
can’t
agree
on
much
these
days,
congressional
Republicans
and
Democrats
alike
came together
to
pass
this
legislation,
and sent it
to
the
President's
desk.
Together,
we
sent
a
clear
message
that
we
must
do
more
to
get
our
government
waste
under
control.
I
encourage
the
President
to
sign
this
bill
into
law,
and
put
these
reforms
into
action.
Until
then, I
hereby
present
our
government's large,
expensive
and
inefficient
programs 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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