Wayne Allard: “my amendment cuts 10 percent of the funding under this bill for programs labeled ``ineffective'' under the OMB--the…”

“my amendment cuts 10 percent of the funding under this bill for programs labeled ``ineffective'' under the OMB--the Office of Management and Budget--PART Program and transfers the funding to an account previously established to pay down the national debt. Now, I do not believe I am being presumptuous when I say that most of us in this body would like to reduce spending. Where to cut is the question we fight over. So that is where the fight exists. Now, given ballooning Federal spending and the Federal debt, this amendment lets us make an easy choice to cut spending. It has to start with programs that cannot even justify their mission or success internally. In case you are unfamiliar with the PART Program in general, let me give you some background. When making funding decisions, Members of Congress should consider what they are buying for the taxpayer. Funded programs should be effective and efficient. So the Program Assessment Rating Tool--that is, PART--was put in place by the Congress more than a decade ago. Agencies have had time to work with this program under the Clinton administration as well as the Bush administration. The program directs the agencies to set up measurable goals and objectives, and then the Office of Management and Budget goes in later on and evaluates to see if the agency is actually meeting those goals and objectives. These detailed program assessments and the evidence on which they are based are available to the public to view.”