Paul Coverdell: “I am pleased to offer today a sense-of- the-Senate amendment regarding Government travel. My amendment is simple--it…”

“I am pleased to offer today a sense-of- the-Senate amendment regarding Government travel. My amendment is simple--it says that it is the Senate's view that all Federal agencies should refrain from Government training sessions or retreats whenever Government property or facilities are not available. These are times of economic stress for our Government and businesses alike, Mr. President. However, like the business community, our Government should respond to the current economic situations. If a private business ran over $100 billion budget deficits each year, it would certainly not fly its employees to Disney World or Jekyll Island, GA, as we have seen from Government agencies in recent months. However laudable the goals of these training sessions, and I note that many are, indeed, helpful, we simply cannot afford to do it. It is difficult to explain to Georgians that our Government must cut jobs at places like Savannah River site, where we have lost over 8,000 employees in the last 4 years, when they read of elaborate business trips abroad and conferences held at resort locations. We must all tighten our belts--the Federal Government included. This amendment is not intended to halt Government travel or interrupt necessary functions of our Government agencies. It is merely intended as a directive from the Senate as to the Government's future travel decisions in lieu of our budgetary restraints.…”