On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
My amendment addresses issues of nonessential travel by Federal employees that are not involved in the Department of Defense or Homeland Security. Simply stated, the amendment says that appropriations made available by this act are hereby reduced by $600 million for all departments except for the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense. I originally was going to do an amendment that specifically talked about reducing nonessential travel. I was concerned about a point of order. So this amendment does not specifically mention nonessential travel. However, based on advice of the fiscal commission, the travel cuts could be proposed. And both Democrats and Republicans on the fiscal commission thought that this was a productive area to look for savings. I decided to structure this amendment in a way that would not be subject to a point of order. But its intent is to reduce nonessential travel by Federal employees in departments outside of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
