Steve Cohen: “Senator Levin and I are offering today the Travel Reform and Savings Act as an amendment to the DOD authorization bill.…”

“Senator Levin and I are offering today the Travel Reform and Savings Act as an amendment to the DOD authorization bill. This amendment has bipartisan support and is intended to enable Federal agencies to adopt the best of private sector travel management practices. It will save over $800 million each year from regulatory and statutory changes in Federal travel management. This effort originated with two hearings I held this Congress on reforming the Federal Government's travel process. At the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management hearings on the costs associated with processing Federal travel vouchers, GAO, DOD, GSA and other executive branch agencies agree that the Government's policies focus too much on compliance with rigid rules, and that Federal travel practices are outmoded and too bureaucratic. There was also agreement that the travel process needs to be radically redesigned or reengineered and simplified by adopting the best practices of private industry. Successfully adopting these practices will save the Government an estimated $6 billion during the next 5 years. I am encouraged by the efforts of the Department of Defense and other agencies in reforming administrative costs connected with temporary duty travel. We are beginning to see progress and we should redouble our efforts to save the taxpayer money from unnecessary travel overhead expenditures.”