House Speaker Denny Hastert, R-Ill., announced during a Tuesday news conference that he is directing committee chairmen to make their oversight responsibilities a priority in an effort to reduce government waste, fraud and abuse.
"By targeting wasteful Washington spending, we will be better able to meet our nation's priorities: a stronger Social Security system, the best education and health care in the world, a well-trained and well-armed national defense, tax fairness for all American taxpayers, and in sum a balanced budget without public debt," Hastert said.
Republicans unveiled a prop they called the "waste-o-meter" and began their year-long tally of wasted spending by adding $13.5 billion from the Medicare program, $80 million from federal student loan programs and $15 million from federal conservation programs.
Brandishing a fishing rod, House Majority Leader Armey said Republicans want to keep the federal government accountable to American taxpayers.
"When fishermen like me buy a fishing pole, we pay a tax that is supposed to pay for upkeep and rehabilitation of the places we fish. Instead we find that Fish and Wildlife officials are using the money for bureaucratic junkets," Armey said of a report critical of Interior Department spending.
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