Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), my good friends, for their leadership in managing today. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in strong support of this bill, which will make fundamental changes to project and program management practices and standards for the Federal Government. The bill's cosponsor, Representative Todd Young, and I currently serve as co-chairs of the Government Efficiency Caucus, which to some may seem like an oxymoron. In our capacity as co-chairs, Representative Young and I worked together on a bipartisan basis to develop the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act. After taking input from many stakeholders, including from agency management and private sector partners, regarding the root causes of poor project performance, we identified serious deficiencies in program and project management competencies across the entire Federal Government. As ranking member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, it is deeply troubling to me that so many Federal projects and programs find themselves substantially over budget or significantly behind schedule. These are all symptoms of a lack of institutional focus and attention to the mechanics of project management.…”