Good
morning
folks
-
You
sent
me
to
Congress
with
a
specific
mission:
cut
wasteful
spending
and
make
Washington
squeal. Each
month,
I
identify
a
Washington
expense,
program
or
concept
that
has
proven
to
be
wasteful,
and
award
it
with
my
Squeal
Award.
This
month,
I
have
a
proposal
that
does
some
cutting,
and
a
lot
of
draining
Squeal
Award:
Bureaucratic
Bubble
Buildings
To
drive
from
my
office
in
Washington,
D.C.
to
the
U.S.
Department
of
Agriculture
could
take
a
little
over
5
minutes
(without
D.C.
traffic).
However,
it
might
take
a
bit
longer
to
drive
to
the
nearest
farm.
Similarly,
the
U.S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
is
just
down
the
road,
but
the
folks
most
directly
impacted
by
their
rules
and
regulations,
such
as
the
Waters
of
the
U.S.
(WOTUS)
Rule,
can
be
hundreds
or
thousands
of
miles
away.
Currently,
the
headquarters
of
nearly
all
executive
branch
agencies
are
clustered
in
and
around
Washington,
D.C.
Not
only
does
this
concentrate
hundreds
of
thousands
of jobs
in
the
area,
but
it
puts
out-of-touch
Washington
bureaucrats
in
charge
of
making
decisions
and
rules
that
directly
affect
the
lives
of
folks
across
the
country.
As
we
saw
with
the
WOTUS
Rule,
issued
by
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
and
the
Army
Corps
of
Engineers,
these
decisions
are
often
nonsensical
or,
in
this
case,
have
harmful
impacts
on
the
people
these
agencies
serve. If
these
government
agencies
were
headquartered
in
a
Midwestern
state,
like
Iowa, and
staffed
by
folks
whose
friends,
families,
and
neighbors
really
feel
the
impact
of
these
decisions,
a
rule
like
WOTUS
may
never
have
been
proposed.
This
is
why,
last
month,
I
introduced
the
Strategic Withdrawal
of
Agencies
for
Meaningful
Placement
Act,
or
SWAMP
Act. The
SWAMP
Act
seeks
to
get
the
federal
government
outside
of
the
Washington
beltway,
so
these
federal
agencies
can
see
and
hear
first-hand
the
impact
their
policies
have
on
the
folks
who
know
their
areas
needs
the
best.
To
do
this, my
legislation establishes
a
competitive
bidding
process
that
allows
states,
cities,
and
towns
across
the
country the
opportunity
to be
an
agency’s
new
home.
This
will
also
bring stable
government
jobs
to
new
parts
of
the
country,
and
help
bring
a
more
diverse
set
of
voices
and
opinions
to
the
policy
making
process.
Not
to
mention,
office
space
in
Washington,
D.C.
rents
for
almost
$60
per
square
foot,
versus
just
$18
in
Des
Moines
-
saving
taxpayer
dollars!
Folks
at
the
Sioux
City
Journal agree that
if
we
want
to
get
serious
about
draining
the
Washington
swamp,
we
should
consider
the
SWAMP
Act
to
save
money
and
ensure
those
making
the
important
decisions
are
not
insulated
in
a
bureaucratic
bubble.
I
hereby
present
the
Washington
swamp
with
this
month's Squeal
Award, and
look
forward
to
working
with
my
colleagues
to
pass
the SWAMP
Act.
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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