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Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) released the following statement following a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that revealed wasteful spending on duplicative programs within the federal government.

“Washington needs to get its fiscal house in order and the most appropriate way to begin saving taxpayer dollars is eliminating wasteful spending. We owe it to the American people to look at the programs highlighted in this report and take action to defund ineffective and redundant services,” Boozman said.

“Considering the amount of program dollars involved in the issues we have identified, even limited adjustments could result in significant savings,” the GAO concluded.

Although the report didn’t specify costs savings, estimates are well into the billions of dollars.

Examples of government waste emphasized in the GAO report:

Transportation

Five DOT agencies with 6,000 employees administer over 100 separate programs with separate funding streams for highways, transit, rail, and safety functions.

Education

GAO identified 82 distinct programs designed to help improve teacher quality administered across 10 federal agencies.

Economic Development

The federal government runs 80 economic development programs between the Department of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture at a cost of $6.5 billion.

Read the full report here.

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