Dan Coats: “I did not come down to speak on this particular bill. I am back for week No. 4 of waste of the week. In recent weeks, I…”

“I did not come down to speak on this particular bill. I am back for week No. 4 of waste of the week. In recent weeks, I have highlighted what I describe as excess spending of taxpayer dollars. We have talked about double dipping in unemployment insurance, where if we could close this loophole, we could save the taxpayer $5.7 billion in savings. We have also talked about duplication in Federal economic development programs. There are 50-some programs that provide for workforce training spread among a number of agencies. Surely we can reduce that number significantly. And if we could do so, we could save the taxpayer $200 million. And last week--somewhat tongue in cheek, nevertheless not small change--I talked about a $387,000 grant issued by the National Institutes of Health in which 18 New Zealand white rabbits were given, four times a day, 30-minute massages to determine whether they would be relieved of some soreness after they were given some physical exercise. Then four massages a day, 30 minutes apiece, costing $387,000, to prove that a massage helped to make them feel better or removed some of those aches and pains. I think we could have asked any athlete from any college.…”