John Kerry: “I want to reduce the amount of duplication and overlap in federal agencies and I am prepared to vote to eliminate…”

“I want to reduce the amount of duplication and overlap in federal agencies and I am prepared to vote to eliminate duplicative programs. That is my responsibility as a Senator. However, I believe this must be done in a responsible manner and not passed off to a third party. I opposed the Coburn amendment because it would cause needless delay to the consideration of important legislation by the Senate. It would give additional power to the staff of the Congressional Research Service. It would increase Congressional spending when we are working to reduce our Federal budget deficit and our Federal debt. The amendment would change the Standing Rules of the Senate to require the Congressional Research Service--CRS--to complete a study to examine the potential for duplicative programs for every bill that is passed out of committee before it is in order to be considered by the full Senate. This amendment will not end duplication of government programs. But it will make it more difficult for the Senate to do the Nation's business. The Coburn amendment will allow any Senator to block floor consideration of a bill if the CRS assessment has not been completed. The amendment does not place any time limits on the CRS to make the assessment of whether the programs included in legislation are duplicative. The amendment does not define key terms such as ``program'' or ``initiative'' that are crucial to performing the assessment.…”