Chris Chocola: “I came to Congress from a business background, and I ran for Congress in large part because I believe that we need more…”

“I came to Congress from a business background, and I ran for Congress in large part because I believe that we need more of a small business perspective here in Washington, especially when it comes to eliminating wasteful spending. Every day, the families and businesses in my district have to make tough decisions. They have to meet a payroll, they have to live within a budget, and small businesses and families must eliminate wasteful spending. I do not think the Federal Government should be any different. This year the Heritage Foundation identified $386 billion of wasteful Federal Government spending. Mr. Speaker, that was $386 billion. If Congress would only eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the Federal Government, we could save the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. But it is not enough to just complain. We have to do something about it. This week the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), and the Committee on the Budget chairman, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), announced a significant effort to root out and eliminate government waste during the 108th Congress. I applaud their effort, and I pledge that I will join them and my colleagues to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in government in my time in Congress. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in this effort.”