Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Reducing Duplication Overseas Act of 2012. At a time when the Federal Government is facing significant fiscal challenges, we must explore all potential avenues to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal programs. This bill seeks to ease some of our current fiscal pressures by eliminating duplication of certain administrative services at overseas posts and reducing administrative operational costs. The Department of State oversees the International Cooperative Administrative Support Services, ICASS, system, which provides and shares the cost of administrative support services for overseas employees, such as vehicle maintenance or leasing services. The purpose of developing this system was to ensure more efficient delivery and quality of overseas administrative support services. Although the level of agency participation varies, as use of ICASS for most administrative services is voluntary, last year, more than 40 agencies participated in ICASS and the cost of the services totaled approximately $2 billion. In 2004, the Government Accountability Office, GAO, reported that ICASS had not achieved efficient delivery of administrative support services because it failed to eliminate duplicative services and contain costs. GAO recommended that there be one provider for each service at American facilities overseas.…”