September 19, 2012

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bipartisan bill introduced by Congressmen John Barrow (GA-12) and Richard Hanna (NY-24) that will cut funding for the General Services Administration (GSA) to purchase vehicles to add to the federal government fleet by 20 percent. Except in cases dealing with national security, the bill will substantially reduce the number of vehicles the federal government owns, a fleet that currently has over 700,000 vehicles.

"This bipartisan bill will cut the wasteful spending that folks are tired of in Washington," said Congressman Barrow. "Spending hard-earned taxpayer money on more vehicles the federal government could do without is irresponsible. We have to find places to cut spending, and this is a step in the right direction."

The federal government owns more than 700,000 vehicles, and costs to operate and maintain them is nearly $4 billion each year. Since 2006, the federal government has added over 20,000 vehicles to its fleet, and the maintenance and operating costs have gone up 5.4 percent. Reducing the budget for the federal vehicle fleet by 20 percent will save the federal government, at minimum, $500 million, savings that could be used for deficit reduction.

The bill passed the House by voice vote.

Congressman Barrow spoke on the House floor prior to passage of the bill. The speech is available below.