Johnny Isakson's Position Statement on Federal Spending
One of the problems we have in Congress with deficit spending is spending money on projects that by anybody's definition are projects that shouldn’t be funded with tax dollars. We must take large and immediate steps to end the reckless spending that is threatening the future of our nation. Congress must become better stewards of the taxpayers’ money.
Federal Budget Process
I believe in increased transparency and disclosure in the appropriations process, and that is why in March 2008 I supported an amendment introduced by Senator Jim DeMint to establish a one-year moratorium on earmarks to enable Congress to create new disciplines in the earmarking process. This year, I co-sponsored and again voted for legislation by Senators Coburn and DeMint that calls for a one-year moratorium on earmarks in the Senate. This one-year moratorium will only be effective if all 100 senators are subject to the same moratorium. Unfortunately, the legislation did not receive the 60 votes needed to pass.
I have introduced legislation to change our appropriations process from annual to biannual, which would allow Congress to spend every odd-numbered year appropriating and every even-numbered year conducting oversight of spending. This would decrease Congress’ temptation to spend on projects in election years and increase their accountability on spending restraint and fiscal discipline.
I will continue to consider funding requests for strong Georgia projects that are critical to both our state and nation. In determining whether to submit requests to the Senate Appropriations Committee for funding, I will look to see whether the project is within the State of Georgia, whether there is a clear constitutional and federal role in the project, whether the project has been authorized in previous legislation by Congress and whether it has received prior funding from Congress. I am committed to transparency, and I have made my federal funding requests available to the public on my website in an effort to promote accountability.
Please click here if you would like to view my federal funding requests for Fiscal Year 2011, Fiscal Year 2010 , Fiscal Year 2009 and Fiscal Year 2008.
As I have done since first being elected to Congress in 1999, I will continue to work for spending restraint and fiscal responsibility.
Stop Over-Spending (“S.O.S”)
It is imperative that we change our budget process and put in spending priorities. In the 109th andd 110th Congress, I co-sponsored S.15, which would have reduced the federal deficit and reformed the federal budget process. Specifically, the Stop Over-Spending (“S.O.S.”) Act would have created a line-item veto mechanism for the president to use to eliminate wasteful spending and require Congressional affirmation for any deletions proposed by the president. It would have implemented procedures to automatically slow the rate of growth for mandatory programs if Congress fails to meet deficit reduction targets and reinstated statutory caps on discretionary spending. In addition, the S.O.S. Act would have created two new bi-partisan commissions. The first would have studied the accountability and efficiency of government programs. The second commission would have examined and provided solutions to the impending entitlement crisis.
Accountability
I also have co-sponsored several pieces of legislation to curb federal spending and to demand more accountability from programs that receive federal dollars, including the Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act to establish a bipartisan commission to review federal agencies and programs in an effort to eliminate federal spending on programs that are duplicative, wasteful, inefficient or outdated, and the Government Reorganization and Program Performance Improvement Act to require Congress and the Executive Branch to regularly and formally examine whether federal programs and agencies are achieving desired results for the American people.
E-mail: http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm
