John Cornyn: “This is what the President's own fiscal commission has said about such a concept. I know Members of the Senate and the…”

“This is what the President's own fiscal commission has said about such a concept. I know Members of the Senate and the political parties are divided about many things, but this is something that should be noncontroversial and should be bipartisan. I hope my colleagues will listen briefly and consider cosponsoring and joining us in passing this important amendment establishing this sunset commission. Again, this is what the President's own fiscal commission said about this concept: Such a committee has been recommended many times, and has found bipartisan support. The original and arguably most effective committee exists at the State level in Texas. The legislature created a sunset commission in 1977 to eliminate waste and inefficiency in government agencies. Estimates from reviews conducted between 1982 and 2009 showed 27-year savings of over $780 million, compared with expenditures of $28.6 million. Based on the estimated savings achieved, for every dollar spent on the sunset process, the State received $27 in return. We all know the challenges we face in Washington when it comes to proper oversight. Once programs are created--even so-called temporary programs--they tend to take on a life of their own. Indeed, I think that must be what Ronald Reagan was talking about in one of my favorite quotations, when he said that ``the closest thing to eternal life here on earth is a temporary government program.'' We all know what happens once a program is created.…”