Let's Cut Backlog of Unused Federal Properties

ARRA Editor: We commend all bi-partisan efforts to cut government waste and inefficiency. WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20, 2007) -- U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) today introduced legislation to eliminate the enormous backlog of unneeded property within the federal government. The bill would help federal agencies more quickly dispose of unneeded property, resulting in billions of dollars of savings to American taxpayers. An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report, June 15, outlined the exorbitant costs associated with agencies holding onto properties they don’t need. Excessive rules and regulations have resulted in a backlog of more than 21,000 properties worth $18 billion. The proposed bill would temporarily ease the property disposal rules and allow agencies to more quickly sell properties they don’t need. It would also give agencies a financial incentive to act by allowing them to keep a portion of the proceeds, which would otherwise go directly to the Treasury.

Remarks by Sen. Coburn: It is obscene that the value of our government’s vacant or unused properties exceeds the annual Gross Domestic Product of half of the nations on earth. American taxpayers are generous and are eager to help rebuild nations like Afghanistan, but something is wrong when Congress asks taxpayers to sacrifice more but does nothing to eliminate an area of waste that is double the size of Afghanistan’s GDP. To provide further perspective, the value of our unused properties exceeds the annual budget of the Army Corps of Engineers, an agency that is tasked with securing levees around cities like New Orleans. If Congress spent less time doing political oversight and more time doing common sense oversight we might be able to redirect taxpayer dollars to projects that do make a difference in our everyday lives. Members of Congress should not earmark a single dollar for a new building until we take steps to get rid of the 21,000 properties we already have but aren’t using. [Read More]

---

Tags: federal property, government waste, OMB, Tom Caper, Tom Coburn, US Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!