The House Government Reform Committee has again signaled
its support for the Bush administration’s efforts to
streamline the programs and operations of the government.
Legislation (HR-185) pending before the committee would
require the review of government programs at least once
every five years for purposes of evaluating their
performance to determine whether they should be
abolished, continued, or modified.
In a statement of its plans for this Congress, the panel
said it “looks forward to helping to develop legislative
tools that will enable the Executive Branch to reorganize
and streamline federal offices and programs ensuring the
most effective utilization of taxpayer dollars. Prior
examples of this include streamlining federal community
and economic development programs, merging federal job
training and employment grant programs, improving high
school intervention programs for at-risk youth, and
terminating federal programs that have accomplished their
missions.
“Additionally, the committee plans to work closely with
the administration in crafting legislation that would
improve government operations by providing for expedited
Congressional consideration of proposals to terminate
federal functions and streamline programs, rather than
relying on the cumbersome legislative process to address
these critical issues,” the document says.
