Scott Garrett: “with regard to S. 1496, this program, my understanding, creates a 3-year pilot program to distribute Federal duck stamps…”

“with regard to S. 1496, this program, my understanding, creates a 3-year pilot program to distribute Federal duck stamps electronically. Duck stamps are something which I am very familiar with and am completely in support of the overall program. These stamps are sold to hunters, conservationists and collectors, raising funds to acquire land in the national wildlife refuge system, which, in turn, are then beneficial to the duck hunters in my district and yours as well. The question goes to the overall cost of this system and who will be paying for the system. Traditionally, under the duck stamp program, it is not a cost to the overall taxpayers of the country. Rather, it is those who enter in to select to buy the duck stamps themselves. However, this is the point. CBO estimates that this bill will cost $750,000, or three-quarters of a million dollars, over the next 3 years to implement and that the fees authorized will not be sufficient to offset this cost. In light of this report from the CBO, can you assure us that the costs will be generated from the actual sale of the stamps, and can you point out where the error has been, therefore, in the CBO cost estimates in this program?”