Washington, Jun 13 - Republican-led House committees have exercised their congressional oversight responsibility to expose – and in many cases, eliminate – billions in waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. In conjunction with Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-IL) “Spring Cleaning” project, today Majority Leader John Boehner is releasing a report highlighting some of the best examples of committee oversight in the 109th Congress to date.

Notably, these steps have occasionally been taken without help from Democrat leaders, who have often sought to block GOP reforms while pressing for new government programs and new spending. In fact, Democrats have proposed $27.8 billion so far this year above and beyond what have been proposed in the FY 2007 appropriations bills.

The House GOP spring cleaning project is well underway. This week, the Budget Committee will mark up line item veto legislation that is expected on the House floor next week. In addition, numerous committees are holding oversight hearings, including:

• The Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing on waste, fraud, and abuse in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina;
• The Agriculture Committee is holding an oversight hearing on the crop insurance program;
• The Education & the Workforce Committee is holding an oversight hearing on workplace safety; and
• The Ways & Means Committee is holding an oversight hearing to evaluate the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

These are but a few examples. Next week, the House is expected to consider both the line item veto bill as well as a sunset commission bill that evaluates whether federal programs are serving the taxpayers’ interests. These important reforms complement the efforts we’ve already taken – including earmark reforms and the “rainy day” funds for disaster response – which support these efforts as well.

GOP legislative efforts, used in tandem with effective oversight, has saved taxpayers billions and is part of a larger Republican effort to spend taxpayer dollars wisely.