Letter to House: Cosponsor H.R. 82 to Resurrect the Byrd Committee to Eliminate Wasteful Spending

Dear Representative,

On behalf of over a million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to cosponsor Rep. Jeff Duncan’s (R-SC) H.Res. 82, Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish the Committee on the Elimination of Nonessential Federal Programs. This resolution would bring back the Joint Committee of Nonessential Federal Expenditure or Byrd Committee as it was once known. Named after its creator Senator Harry F. Byrd (D-VA), the original committee’s mission was to scrutinize all federal programs to eliminate unnecessary federal spending. During its years of operation between 1941 and 1974, the committee was able to cut $38 billion (in 2010 dollars) of waste and inefficiency out of the federal government. Our need to bring back the Byrd Committee has never been greater.   

Established in the wake of the New Deal, the original Byrd Committee was successful in reining in excess government spending. Sen. Byrd understood that eliminating wasteful federal programs was an effective way to control spending. In a time of bailouts, “stimulus” packages and government takeovers, it is urgent that we again create this anti-spending committee immediately.
                                       
Over the past few years, Congress has been on an unprecedented spending spree. While the recent Simpson-Bowles-Obama debt commission proposed over $1 trillion in tax hikes, the Byrd Committee would focus solely on reducing government expenditures. This would be a powerful committee on the side of the taxpayer, helping to limit the waste of our tax dollars.

I urge you to cosponsor Rep. Jeff Duncan’s bill to resurrect the Byrd Committee. With our nation over $14 trillion in debt, this committee will have the important task of saving taxpayer dollars by eliminating needless government programs. The American people are counting on you to return fiscal sanity to our federal government. Your co-sponsorship of this bill would show that you are indeed serious about doing so.  

Sincerely,
 
Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
[Click here for a pdf version of this letter.]