[Congressional Record: April 14, 2008 (Senate)]
[Page S2977-S2979]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. CORNYN:
S. 2852. A bill to provide increased accessibility to information on
Federal spending, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, throughout my career, I have been working
on the front lines of the battle for greater transparency and openness
in our Government because I fundamentally believe the more the American
people and my constituents in Texas understand about the Government and
how it operates, the better accountability can take place, and people
will once again feel they are in charge, which is absolutely the case.
Knowledge is power, and transparency permits the accountability
necessary for our system to work.
Just a few months ago, Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, and I were successful in getting a bill
signed which modernized and greatly improved our Freedom of Information
laws for the first time in many years. Now it is my intent to try to
accomplish that same thing with the Federal spending, and that is why
today I am introducing the Federal Spending and Taxpayer Accessibility
Act of 2008.
The first thing this bill would do would be to create an online
earmark tracking system that taxpayers can use free of charge to search
for specific earmarks by recipient, by appropriations bill, by State,
and by Member, and to do so in a real-time frame of reference during
the appropriations process.
Of course, earmarks are especially designated appropriations for
particular projects in particular locations. There is a lot of
controversy about earmarks, but I think greater transparency would
limit the number of earmarks introduced because were they to be
completely transparent, it would discourage the use of earmarks and
make certain only meritorious ones are accepted by the Congress as part
of the appropriations process.
Secondly, my legislation would direct the Internal Revenue Service to
provide each taxpayer with a concise, easy-to-read personal record of
the amount of taxes they have already paid and an estimate of the
amount of taxes they will pay in the timeframe before they retire.
As you know, the Social Security Administration currently already
mails out a similar statement, called a Social Security account
statement, which gives taxpayers a record of the earnings on which they
have paid Social Security taxes and a summary of their estimated future
benefits. So this taxpayer account statement would be sort of the
mirror image of the Social Security statement, and it would let people
know how much taxes they have paid and what their tax obligation would
likely be into the future.
[[Page S2978]]
I think this tax statement could play an important role when
taxpayers are planning their future finances and provide them with a
better idea of how much in taxes they will pay in the future.
It will also have the added benefit of making them much more aware of
what Washington is doing when it comes to their hard-earned money and
the money they send to Washington to pay the bills.
Finally, this legislation builds upon the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 that created a one-stop,
searchable Web site for all Federal contracts and grants. My
legislation would expand on this Web site by including all expenditures
of all Federal agencies, such as salaries, rent, supplies, and
transportation.
As this chart shows, taxpayers will have to work 74 days during the
year just to pay their Federal taxes without getting one red cent for
themselves. Additionally, local taxes and State taxes account for an
additional 39 days of work, and that is before they begin to work to
pay their own bills, their other bills. For housing, it is roughly 60
days out of the year; health insurance, 50 days out of the year; food,
35; and transportation, 29 days out of the year. So these living
essentials are being squeezed by the Federal tax burden, and I think it
is important for people to understand that. Frankly, once they do, I
think their voices are then much more likely to be heard when loose
talk in Washington occurs about raising taxes.
I was interested to hear our colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden,
talk about the alternative minimum tax. That is a perfect case study of
why, when people talk about taxing the rich, really what they are
talking about is taxing people who earn a living. That was a classic
case where the alternative minimum tax was passed to target 155
taxpayers who did not otherwise pay Federal income tax because of their
deductions, due to State and local taxes. Well, no surprise those 155
targeted taxpayers grew last year to 6 million taxpayers, and this year
it would have grown to 23 million middle-class taxpayers because it had
not been indexed. Once again, taxing the rich turns into taxing the
middle class.
Well, I think greater transparency in the process would allow the
middle class to tell Washington: Wait a minute, you need to cut out
some of the waste and inefficiency of Government before you come back
to me and ask me for more of what I earn, which I need to spend on
housing, health insurance, food, transportation, or whatever else I see
fit.
I think it is about time for taxpayers to see where their money is
going, and it is in this spirit I am introducing this Federal Spending
and Taxpayer Accessibility Act of 2008. I think it answers the
fundamental question: Should the people who foot the bill for the
Federal Government know what it is they are getting?
Never would you ask a person to make an investment without giving
them the ability to monitor that investment. But when it comes to
taxes, that is precisely what we are asking. It is time for us to open
up the process of Federal spending to the public and let the American
people see where their money is going. That way they can hold their
elected officials accountable and play a closer role in the
determination of where we spend their hard-earned money.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
placed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2852
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Spending and
Taxpayer Accessibility Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Taxpayers deserve to know how their tax money is spent
by the Federal Government.
(2) The Office of Management and Budget has developed a
single, searchable Internet website of Government grants and
contracts, accessible free of charge by the public.
(3) The Office of Management and Budget, through its
Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) system, identified that
almost 25 percent of Federal programs it reviewed either were
ineffective or their effectiveness could not be determined.
(4) Billions of dollars are lost each year through fraud,
waste, abuse, and mismanagement among the hundreds of
programs in the Federal Government.
(5) Taxpayers work on average more than 2 months of every
year to pay for the operations of the Federal Government.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to bring more transparency to the spending habits of
the Federal Government;
(2) to help taxpayers understand how the Federal Government
spends the money they send to Washington, D.C.;
(3) to provide for better accountability in the Federal
budget and appropriations process;
(4) to give taxpayers an easy and accessible way to see how
their money is being spent; and
(5) to increase the participation of citizens in their
Government.
SEC. 3. EARMARK TRACKING WEBSITE.
(a) Internet Website.--
(1) In general.--Not later than January 1, 2009, the
Congressional Research Service shall create a single
operational searchable Internet website, accessible free of
charge by the public, that allows the user to search
information on each Federal earmark, including--
(A) the name and location of the intended recipient of the
earmark,
(B) the total dollar amount of the earmark,
(C) the Member of Congress who sponsored or requested the
earmark, and
(D) the status of the bill to which the earmark is
attached.
(2) Scope of data.--The Internet website established under
this subsection shall include data for fiscal years after
fiscal year 2007.
(3) Timeliness of information.--The Congressional Research
Service shall update the Internet website established under
this subsection as soon as any bill or report containing an
earmark has been passed or reported by the Senate or the
House of Representatives or any committee thereof.
(b) Definitions.--
(1) Earmark.--For purposes of this section, the term
``earmark'' means a congressionally directed spending item, a
limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit.
(A) Congressionally directed spending item.--For purposes
of this paragraph, the term ``congressionally directed
spending item'' means a provision or report language included
primarily at the request of a Member of Congress providing,
authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of
discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other
spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee,
grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an
entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or
Congressional district, other than through a statutory or
administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.
(B) Limited tax benefit.--For purposes of this paragraph,
the term ``limited tax benefit'' means any revenue provision
that--
(i) provides a Federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, or
preference to a particular beneficiary or limited group of
beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
(ii) contains eligibility criteria that are not uniform in
application with respect to potential beneficiaries of such
provision.
(C) Limited tariff benefit.--For purposes of this
paragraph, the term ``limited tariff benefit'' means a
provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States in a manner that benefits 10 or fewer entities.
(2) Recipient.--For purposes of this section, the term
``recipient'' means the entity designated to receive the
earmark.
(3) Searchable internet website.--For purposes of this
section, the term ``searchable Internet website'' means an
Internet website that allows members of the public--
(A) to search and aggregate Federal funding for any earmark
passed or reported by the Senate or the House of
Representatives or any committee thereof, as well as an
overall total by any method required by subsection (a)(1);
(B) to ascertain through a single search the total number
and total dollar amount of earmarks provided to a single
recipient;
(C) to ascertain through a single search the total number
and total dollar amount of earmarks sponsored or requested by
each United States Senator, Member of the House of
Representatives, including Delegates and Resident
Commissioners, and the President of the United States; and
(D) to ascertain through a single search the total number
and total dollar amount of earmarks and earmark recipients
located in each State and territory of the United States.
(c) Notification of Delay.--The Director of the
Congressional Research Service shall, upon making a
determination that the Internet website established under
subsection (a)(1) will not be operational by January 1, 2009,
immediately notify the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Government Reform of the House of Representatives of such
determination and shall provide the reason for the delay.
(d) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than the date that is 1 year
after the date on which the
[[Page S2979]]
Internet website established under subsection (a)(1) becomes
operational, the Director of the Congressional Research
Service shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Government Reform of the House of Representatives a report on
the implementation of such website, including data regarding
the usage of and public feedback on the utility of the
website and any recommendations for improving the
presentation of the data.
(2) Publication.--The Congressional Research Service shall
make each report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly
available on the Internet website established under
subsection (a).
(e) Classified Information.--Nothing in this section shall
require the disclosure of classified information.
(f) Government Accountability Office Report.--Not later
than June 1, 2009, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report on compliance with
the requirements of this section.
SEC. 4. PROVIDING INFORMATION TO TAXPAYERS.
(a) Provision of Statement Upon Request.--Beginning not
later than October 1, 2009, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall provide upon the request of an eligible individual a
taxpayer account statement for such individual.
(b) Taxpayer Account Statement.--The taxpayer account
statement required under subsection (a) shall include--
(1) the aggregate amount of individual Federal income tax
paid by the eligible individual under chapter 1 of subtitle A
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in all previous taxable
years, and
(2) an estimate of the aggregate amount of such income tax
that such individual will have paid as of the projected date
of the normal retirement of such individual.
(c) Eligible Individual.--For purposes of this section, the
term ``eligible individual'' means an individual who--
(1) has a valid social security number issued by the Social
Security Administration.
(2) is age 25 or over,
(3) has filed a return of tax in any previous taxable year,
and
(4) has had net income tax liability which is greater than
zero in any previous taxable year.
(d) Notice.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, take such steps as are necessary
to assure that eligible individuals are informed of the
availability of the statement required under subsection (a).
(e) Mandatory Provision of Initial Statements.--By not
later than September 30, 2014, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall provide a taxpayer account statement to each eligible
individual for whom a current mailing address can be
determined. The Secretary shall provide with each such
statement notice that an updated version of such statement is
available annually upon request.
SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
EXPENDITURES.
(a) Additional Disclosure.--
(1) In general.--Not later than January 1, 2010, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include
the financial outlays of all Federal agencies on the Internet
website established by the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006.
(2) Internet website.--The information added to the
Internet website under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) allow the user at least 2 different methods of
searching and aggregating the financial outlays of all
Federal agencies, including--
(i) searching by agency obligation and object class; and
(ii) searching by budget function and subfunction; and
(B) allow the user to download any data received as the
product of a search.
(b) Agency Responsibilities.--All Federal agencies shall
comply with instructions and guidance issued by the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget and shall provide
appropriate assistance to the Director upon request in the
addition to the Internet website of the information required
under subsection (a).
(c) Scope of Data.--The information added to the Internet
website under subsection (a) shall include data for fiscal
years after fiscal year 2008.
(d) Financial Outlay.--For purposes of this section, the
term ``financial outlay'' means any payment to liquidate an
obligation (other than the repayment of debt principal) that
is greater than $25,000.
(e) Notification of Delay.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall, upon making a determination that
the information required to be added to the Internet website
under subsection (a) will not be complete by January 1, 2010,
immediately notify the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Government Reform of the House of Representatives of such
determination and shall provide the reason for the delay.
(f) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than the date that is 6 months
after the date on which the information required under
subsection (a) has been added to the Internet website
described in such subsection, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall submit to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and
the Committee on Government Reform of the House of
Representatives a report on the addition of the information
added under subsection (a), including data regarding the
usage of and public feedback on the utility of the Internet
website and any recommendations for improving data quality
and collection.
(2) Publication.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall make the report submitted under paragraph
(1) publicly available on the Internet website established by
the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006.
(g) Classified Information.--Nothing in this section shall
require the disclosure of classified information.
(h) Government Accountability Office Report.--Not later
than January 1, 2011, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report on compliance with
the requirements of this section.
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