David Obey: “it is always risky to try to compare activities of government with activities in the private sector, especially when you…”

“it is always risky to try to compare activities of government with activities in the private sector, especially when you are dealing with military requirements. But nonetheless, this amendment is offered to try to bring attention to the fact that the General Accounting Office has reported that it cost the Department of Defense an additional 30 percent of its total cost of travel, $3.5 billion, or roughly $1 billion of that amount, in order to process their regular travel. They process about 8.2 million travel vouchers each year. Mr. Chairman, I do not know whether the GAO's estimate that the Pentagon could save around $800 million is accurate or not. They point out that the percentage difference between what this processing costs DOD and what it costs in the private sector is 30 percent versus 6 percent. I do not know how far down you can bring that number. But certainly, if the General Accounting Office thinks that you can bring it down to the tune of $800 million, we ought to be able to bring it down by at least $100 million. Mr. Chairman, this amendment does not even do that. It simply says that we will cut this account by $50 million to indicate our concern about the problem. The Defense Department is aware of the problem. They are in the process of instituting reforms to try to deal with it, but they have not yet been able to put those in place to any appreciable degree.”