Working to reduce government waste is a significant undertaking and one to which I remain firmly dedicated even in a Congress where excessive spending runs rampant. It is critical to ensure that the Congress responsibly manages federal spending, especially our tax dollars, to fund our nation’s priorities through greater transparency and accountability. That is why I have worked to rein in wasteful and unnecessary spending by voting for the tightest budgets offered and supporting reductions in overall government spending. Responsible spending benefits everyone and I strongly believe that all federal programs should undergo scrutiny in order to ensure that they are working effectively to meet the needs of our citizens. Those that are not should be reformed or repealed.

Even as we face significant expenditures we must continue to look for opportunities to reduce overall government spending. The rapid growth of entitlement programs, which have tripled in cost as a percentage of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last 40 years, cannot be sustained without badly needed reform.

For this reason, I have cosponsored important legislation which would create a sunset commission to review our country’s federal agencies. The Securing America’s Future Economy Commission Act, otherwise known as the SAFE Commission, establishes a national bipartisan 16-member commission that will examine everything – entitlement spending, as well as all other federal programs and our nation’s tax policies – and present long-term solutions which will help place the U.S. on a fiscally sustainable course and ensure the solvency of these important government programs.

The SAFE Commission will be modeled after the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission, the process which has been successfully used by the Defense Department to determine the effectiveness of our military bases and realign them to make them a more beneficial fit for our country’s needs. As our country’s needs change, so should our government and this vital legislation would determine what agencies are performing most efficiently for the citizens they represent.

Not only does this legislation enjoy bipartisan support in Congress but a recent national survey revealed that 56 percent of those polled said a bipartisan commission is the best way to tackle the growing budget deficit and national debt. The SAFE Commission would better target government funds by working to eliminate the wasteful government spending. Passage of this critical legislation is long overdue.

The SAFE Commission will help us curtail wasteful spending, increase Congressional accountability, and reduce overall government spending. I believe it is our duty as Members of Congress to exercise great care and responsibility in managing our spending priorities and I will continue working to make sure the hard-earned dollars of my constituents are handled responsibly in Congress and that wasteful government spending is stopped.