IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             Contact:        Brian Baluta, 202-225-6155

September 13, 2012                                                           

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2) praised the passage yesterday ofH.R. 4631, the Government Spending Accountability Act of 2012, which shifts the oversight focus of government conferences to spending limits and taxpayer-value rather than a prohibition on locations that may offer gaming or spa services.  

"Conference facilities throughout Nevada were being blacklisted from hosting government meetings because their names may include the words 'resort' or 'casino', despite the fact that these businesses offer exceptional value to the taxpayers," said Amodei. "This legislation rightly moves the onus away from our world-class hospitality industry and puts it squarely on the government bureaucrats who spent lavishly on such things as mind-readers and bicycle-building exercises."  

Amodei said he and his staff made efforts to educate his House colleagues on the value Nevada's conference facilities can provide both in terms of highly-competitive rates, as well as travel expenses owing to its central location in the West.

The bill would require agencies to provide quarterly reports to Congress about meetings or events involving travel expenses paid with federal funds. It would prohibit agencies from spending more than $500,000 to support a single conference, and each agency would be required to post, on their public website, detailed information on any presentation made by any employee of that agency at a conference, as well as reports on the conferences for which the agency paid travel expenses.

The reports would include, among other things, itemized expenses paid by the agency and a brief explanation of how the participation advanced the mission of the agency.

# # #