Since my days in the U.S. House of Representatives, I have consistently sought creative and common-sense fiscal policies to cut excessive government spending, because I believe controlling deficit spending is one of the greatest national security threats facing our country.  With this in mind, I was pleased to join Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Tom Carper(D-DE) and Dan Coats (R-IN) in introducing the bipartisan Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act (S.102), which would give the president line-item veto authority to reduce wasteful spending.  A presidential line-item veto is a practical mechanism to reduce our growing deficit, get our nation’s fiscal house back in order and put an end to wasteful spending.  With the recent passage of similar legislation in the House of Representatives, we are fighting to bring this proposal to a vote on the Senate floor.

As a member of the U.S. Senate, I take very seriously my role in conducting oversight to ensure that the federal government is more accountable and efficient.  But I  know that Congress must take a look at itself as well.  Congressional committees often focus too much on creating new problems and regulations, while slighting an equally important role of the legislative branch: overseeing and reforming laws that already exist.  With this in mind, I was proud to join Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) in introducing an amendment to require that the Congressional Research Services report on any duplication created by proposed legislation before the Senate votes on it.  Where duplication exists, the committee would be required to justify for members of the Senate why the duplication is necessary.

During the 112th Congress, I was also proud to introduce bipartisan legislation with my colleague, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), to establish a Committee to Reduce Government Waste (S.Res.93), which would be charged with identifying and targeting wasteful and underperforming federal government programs for elimination.

I urged Senate leadership to quickly confirm Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so that the agency can begin the important work of protecting consumers against deceptive, misleading and unfair business practices. During debate of the Wall Street Reform legislation in 2010, I successfully fought to give millions of Americans free access to their credit scores, but until the Senate confirms a director for the CFPB, the new consumer watchdog will be powerless to further protect against companies that market and sell their often faulty credit score-related products, including those on misleading websites like www.freescore.com and www.freecreditscore.com. In these tough economic times, we need to ensure the CFPB is doing all it can to shield consumers against financial traps and deceptive advertisements that can lock Americans into pricey subscriptions and other credit score-related services unknowingly.

Most government programs are created with good intentions, but in too many cases, Congress creates new programs that are redundant and sometimes wasteful rather than strategically targeting resources where they are needed. Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report outlining billions of dollars that could be saved by eliminating duplicative government programs. For instance, the GAO found the federal government has 80 economic-development programs, 44 employment and training programs and five agencies within the Department of Transportation that operate 100 surface-transportation programs. There has to be a better way of doing business, and I believe Congress has a responsibility to look back and do away with old, inefficient programs. In fact, I believe we need to resurrect the "un-authorizing" committee that was created to address our deficits and debt after World War II, and begin to streamline the government, pare down our national budget, save taxpayers' dollars, and strengthen the private economy by making sure the government is as lean as ever.

I was proud to introduce legislation, along with my colleague Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), to establish such a committee (S.Res.93). Our proposed Committee to Reduce Government Waste would be charged with identifying and targeting wasteful and underperforming federal government programs for elimination. The bipartisan committee would have 12 members, four from each of the Senate Finance, Appropriations and Budget committees. It would submit a report to the Senate at least once a year that identified underperforming and wasteful government programs in need of cuts or elimination, and its recommendations would receive expedited consideration in the Senate.

The World War II-era Committee saved more than $38 billion in present dollars over just three years just by reducing wasteful spending. It is time to reconstitute this common-sense idea to bring more fiscal accountability to Washington and much-needed relief to taxpayers.

On August 2, 2011, I was proud to introduce a constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment, S.J.Res.24. We need a common-sense policy that will help pay down the nation's debt and restore fiscal responsibility in Washington. The Balanced Budget Amendment would be one part of that larger policy. The legislation would enact a constitutional amendment directing Congress to balance the federal budget each year. It states that federal spending cannot exceed revenue except in special cases, such as when the nation is in a war declared by Congress. And it could be suspended only if three-fifths of the members of the House and Senate agree. My Balanced Budget Amendment would also create a Social Security “lockbox” to ensure that the Social Security Trust Fund is not raided in order to balance the budget and it would prevent any additional tax cuts for the richest Americans when there is a budget deficit.

Coloradans are tired of the earmark spending done by members of Congress - with good reason. While I've worked for many years to reform the process, I concluded last year that more definitive action was needed. On November 15, 2010, I announced that not only would I no longer request earmarks, I would work to end the practice so that Congress could focus on what Americans want most - a secure economic future. For that reason I was thrilled when the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations agreed with me and announced a two year ban on earmarks on February 1, 2011.

Coloradans know that the way Washington spends money is broken.  And one part of that problem is Congress’s addiction to earmarks.  I’ve long pushed for reforms that would help rein in spending, such as a line-item veto authority, pay-as-you-go spending, and a reform of the earmark process.  When I first got to the U.S. Senate, I made the choice to not request earmarks for private for-profit and nonprofit entities in an effort to take the corrupting influence out of the process.  But further action is needed.

Last year, Congress spent roughly $16 billion on earmarks, according to government watchdogs.  While that’s a small part of the budget, we’ve become so focused on pet projects, that holding government accountable and being good stewards of the public dollar seem to be an afterthought.  In fact, lawmakers are so afraid of losing earmarked funding that they’re often pressured into supporting a vicious cycle of increased spending.  The only way we can reform the status quo is if everyone takes responsibility for the problem.  As a result, not only will I no longer request earmarks, I’m going to work to end the process so that Congress can focus on what Americans want most – a secure economic future.

I was proud to support bipartisan legislation, S. 3244, which blocks members of Congress from receiving an annual, automatic pay raise this year, in an effort to balance our government's budget. I also helped lead an effort to urge Speaker Pelosi to promptly pass this bill, which was ultimately sent to President Obama for his signature on May 3, 2010. I fully believe that Congress shouldn't get a raise while so many Coloradans are struggling to find work and to keep their heads above water in this tough economy. This measure saved taxpayers a million dollars in total and is one small way I am working to fulfill my promise to Coloradans to support bipartisan efforts to get our federal budget under control.

On March 15, 2010, I urged the leaders of the Senate Appropriations and Budget committees to stick to President Obama's three-year nonsecurity discretionary spending freeze, and reiterated my support for line-item veto authority as well as sensible earmark reform (see letters to Appropriations Committee and Budget Committee). In addition, after co-sponsoring the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act (S. 2853) last year, I also lent my support for the bipartisan task force created by President Obama to examine the federal budget and recommend steps to reduce the deficit.

On December 9, 2009, I co-sponsored the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act (S. 2853) with Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. This bill would create a bipartisan task force charged with studying the federal budget and recommending the politically difficult changes necessary to reduce the national debt. Congress would then have to consider the recommendations by an up-or-down vote. In January, this legislation fell just short of receiving the 60 votes required to pass it in the Senate. However, I have worked closely with the Obama Administration to create a bipartisan task force by executive order, which will produce similar recommendations for both Houses of Congress to approve.

I have long called for a law requiring that any new mandatory spending created by Congress be offset by spending cuts or adjustments elsewhere in the budget. A similar policy helped the federal government create budget surpluses during the Clinton Administration. As an original co-sponsor of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act (S. 1600), which was introduced by Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri on August 6, 2009, I was proud to help the Senate pass statutory PAYGO rules in early 2010.

I co-sponsored this bipartisan bill, which was introduced by fellow Colorado Senator Michael Bennet on September 17, 2009. The bill would require institutions that accepted government emergency assistance (in particular, TARP funds and the Fannie/Freddie takeover) to pay the money back, freeing the federal government to use the money to pay down the federal deficit.

I am an original co-sponsor of the bipartisan BELT Act, which was introduced by Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware on April 28, 2009. This bill would give the President line-item veto authority - the ability to cut spending from annual appropriations bills, without having to veto the entire bill. Under the legislation, Congress would be required to vote up or down on whether to adopt the President's proposed cuts. This authority would make it easier to cut wasteful measures from bills - and it would prevent Congress from deliberately overlooking bad spending or poor policy simply because it is included in bills that otherwise must be passed.

I co-sponsored this bipartisan bill, which was introduced on March 4, 2009, by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Like the BELT Act, it would give the President line-item veto authority and require Congress to vote on whether to adopt the President's proposed spending cuts.