Congress Passes Bipartisan Bill to Eliminate Unused and Outdated Government Reports

WASHINGTON — Today, a bipartisan group of Senators highlighted the passage of common-sense legislation to modify or eliminate more than 50 unnecessary, duplicative, or outdated reports and notification requirements produced by federal agencies and departments, that are required by law to be submitted to Congress.

The Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 (H.R. 4194) was reported out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July 2014 with a substitute amendment sponsored by Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), and Federal and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). The measure eliminates or modifies 51 Congressionally mandated reports. Eliminating these reporting requirements will free up resources so that agencies can better focus on accomplishing their missions. H.R. 4194 was introduced in the House by Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Okla.) in March 2014. Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).

“This common-sense, bipartisan bill carries on the past good work of our Committee in finding ways to increase efficiency in the federal government and save taxpayer dollars,” Chairman Carper said. “This bill follows up on the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, which I introduced with Sens. Warner and Akaka, by ensuring that agencies are not spending resources and taxpayer dollars producing reports that are submitted to Congress and not used. Those of us in Congress have a responsibility to be judicious stewards of the resources taxpayers invest in federal programs, and ensure those resources are managed honestly, transparently and effectively. This bill helps us do just that. I’d like to thank Sens. Coburn, McCaskill, and Warner, and Chairman Darrell Issa for their leadership on this effort.”

“Cutting government reports that no one reads is a no-brainer,” Ranking Member Coburn said. “Congressman Issa and his staff deserve credit for their hard work over a year preparing this list of unread reports. I hope that the Administration and the incoming Congress use this effort as a model for working together not just to eliminate reports, but to eliminate unnecessary and duplicative programs.”

“This is another step toward a commonsense goal,” Senator McCaskill said. “Once we get this bill across the finish line, I hope Americans gain a little more confidence in government knowing that Congress took action to trim fat from the federal government by reducing the tax dollars spent on costly and unnecessary reports.”

The legislation, now pending a signature by the President, would reduce the amount of reports mandated by Congress for the following federal agencies:

• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Corporation for Community Service
• Department of Defense
• Department of Education
• Department of Energy
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Executive Office of the President
• Government Accountability Office
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of Interior
• Department of Labor
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence
• Department of State
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Treasury
• Department of Veterans Affairs