Rep. Gosar Passes 3 Amendments Targeting $400 Million in Wasteful Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House passed 3 of his amendments to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015:

“I am proud the House supported my efforts to rein in wasteful federal spending by passing 3 of my amendments targeted at some of the most ineffective government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the General Services Administration (GSA).  

“My first amendment, which passed unanimously, reduced funds for the IRS in the bill to the fiscal year 2007 appropriation level, totaling a budget cut of $353 million from the federal agency currently under investigation for targeting innocent American’s for their political beliefs. The IRS is guilty of targeting innocent Americans, now... I am targeting them.

“My second amendment, which also passed unanimously, transferred $42 million from the GSA’s Rental of Space account to the U.S. Courts. The Courts are in need of additional monies to keep pace with an influx of cases and have been consistently underfunded. GSA does not need additional funding for the Rental of Space account given the 77,000 unused or under-used buildings the federal government currently owns. The $42 million transferred by my amendment brings funding for the Courts to the budget request level. Additionally, GSA has a history of mismanaging federal tax dollars and should not be rewarded with such a massive spending increase for new, unnecessary office space.

“Finally, my third unanimously approved amendment reduced funds for the bureaucracy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to the fiscal year 2014 appropriation level and transferred those funds to SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs. The SBA needs to continue to support worthwhile efforts that foster economic growth and the entrepreneurial development programs within the SBA do exactly that. Prioritizing spending and repurposing funds away from bureaucracy and towards actual programs that benefit small businesses should be common sense.”

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