'A Drop in the Bucket': Woodall Proposes $5.1 Million in Cuts to Federal Spending in 2012

Two amendments written and introduced by Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Lawrenceville) will cut $5.1 million from federal spending in FY 2012.

On Monday, July 11, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the two amendments to the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.

The House will vote on the final version of the bill later this week.

Woodall’s first amendment cuts $4.9 million from FY 2012 spending by eliminating a climate change study carried about by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“This amendment isn’t about whether you believe that the earth’s climate is warming, cooling, or not changing at all,” Woodall said, “it’s about ensuring the efficient allocation of taxpayer resources. The Army Corps of Engineers is a construction agency — not a scientific research agency. Its mission does not include climate change.”

Woodall’s second amendment eliminates $200,000 in funding for the U.S. Department of Energy for a program to encourage students in grades three through eight, teachers and families to learn more about energy consumption and efficiency. 

“This program is a new initiative launched during a time when America is not in any position to pay for existing programs, let alone new ones,” Woodall said. “Parents and teachers should teach children how to turn off a light switch, but we shouldn’t need a new federal program to make it happen.”

Under a new policy implemented by House Republicans, all money saved from programs cut in appropriations bills can be deposited in a spending reduction account, so that money cut from programs will not be spent on any other projects.

“In the context of the multi trillion-dollar debt that our nation owes, $5.1 million is a drop in the bucket,” Woodall said. “However, one small amendment at the time, my colleagues and I are changing the culture of excessive spending of the past, and working to get our financial house back in order.”