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Good
afternoon
folks
-
You
sent
me
to
Washington
with
a
mission
to
cut
wasteful
government
spending
and
eliminate
inefficiencies. At
a
time
when
our
national
debt
is
over
$19
trillion,
it's
time
to
get
serious
about
stopping
reckless
and
unnecessary
spending. That's
why
each
month
I
highlight
areas
of
wasteful
government
pork
barrel
spending,
abuse,
and
fraud
and
give
out
the
Squeal
Award.
Squeal
Award:
The
USS
Gerald
Ford's
Costly
Delays
and
Inefficiencies
Recent
reports
indicate
that
the
United
States
Navy’s
latest aircraft
carrier,
the
USS
Gerald
Ford,
is
over
budget
and two
years
behind
schedule,
with
likely
more
delays
to
come. The carrier
was
originally
scheduled
to
join
the
fleet
in
September
2014,
but
according
to
the
Navy,
the
final
delivery
date
could
now
be
as
late
as 2017.
In
addition
to
its
massive
delays,
the
carrier
has
also
racked
up
an
abundance
of
additional
expenses,
putting
it
well
over
its
initial
budget.
Due
to
these
cost
overruns,
the
USS
Ford
is
now
estimated
to
cost
nearly
$13
billion
–
that’s
$2.3
billion
over
initial
estimates!
Aside
from
being
a
gross
misuse
of
taxpayer
dollars,
the
problems
plaguing
the
Ford-class
system
have
also
resulted
in
extended
deployments
overseas,
putting
a
greater
strain
on
our
servicemembers and
their
families.
Last
year
during
a Senate
Armed
Services
Committee
hearing,
I
spoke
out
against
this
unacceptable
waste,
and questioned
the
Department
of
Defense
on
why
they
were not
focusing
on
program
management
and
cost
overruns
to
deal
with
this
wasteful
spending
epidemic.
One
way
to
prevent
this
overspending
from
happening
in
the
future
could
be
through my
program
management legislation, which was
included
in
the
Fiscal
Year
2017
National
Defense
Authorization
Act.
This
bipartisan
legislation
puts
our
federal
government
back
on
track
by
streamlining
efforts
and
outlining
strategies
to
correct
widespread
deficiencies,
lax
oversight
and
unnecessary
cost
overruns
incurred
by
preventable
delays
in
meeting
stated
program
goals
and
deadlines.
The
Senate
also
passed
my
bipartisan
standalone
bill, the
Program
Management
Improvement
and
Accountability
Act,
last
fall.
I will
continue to
look
for
ways
to
improve
our
program
management
and
curb
this
reckless
spending.
I
hereby
present
this
month's Squeal
Award to
the
USS
Gerald
Ford's
costly
delays
and
inefficiencies.
Do
you
have
an
example
of
government
waste
or
inefficiencies
that
I
should
take
a
look
at?
Send
me
an
email
by clicking
here.
Thank
you!
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