On the recordFebruary 2, 2010
I rise today with my friend and colleague Senator Thune to introduce the Reevaluate and Redirect the Stimulus Act of 2010 that would require the Obama Administration's Office of Management and Budget, OMB, to make proposals to redirect stimulus funds approved in last year's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Although I supported the stimulus and favor the continuation of pro-growth policies, given that the federal deficit for Fiscal Year 2009 was a staggering $1.4 trillion and that the Congressional Budget Office announced on January 26 that it is projecting a baseline deficit of $6.047 trillion over the next 10 years, Congress must do more to pair the resources targeted for job creation with reductions in other areas. Before I describe the provisions of the legislation I am introducing today, I must say that it is regrettable that I feel compelled to offer a bill at all. The fact is, I wrote a letter last December 11 to OMB Director Peter Orszag urging him to analyze unobligated funds in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to determine whether they should be reprogrammed to offset the cost of future stimulus legislation.
