Brady "Sunset Act" Targets
Obsolete Federal Agencies
H.R. 2939 Attracts Major Bi-Partisan Support

WASHINGTON - Federal agencies that have outlived their usefulness or refuse to spend tax dollars efficiently don't have a friend in Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

The freshman congressman has introduced H.R. 2939 - the Federal Agency Sunset Review Act of 1998 - which would place an expiration date on every federal agency where they must justify their existence to taxpayers and Congress- or face elimination. A similar law is used in 20 states including Texas, which has eliminated 23 agencies, saving Texas taxpayers $630 million.

"Every agency, regardless of whether they were created 100 years ago or 20 years ago, must prove they deserve our precious tax dollars today", says Brady, who made the sunset law the centerpiece of his campaign to succeed Jack Fields. "Under sunset not only do you abolish obsolete federal agencies and streamline others, but you force agencies to become responsive to the taxpayers and the customers they serve."

H.R. 2939 has attracted an impressive number - 67 - of original co-sponsors, including House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich and Dan Burton, who chairs the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee where the bill will be considered. The measure, endorsed by the national budget-cutting organization Citizens Against Government Waste, has attracted more than ______ Democratic co-sponsors, as well., many of them from Texas.

"No longer will federal agencies, once created, assume immortality", says Thomas Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Sunsetting shifts the burden of proof, forcing agencies to regular justify their existence to American taxpayers who will have a real say in whether they deserve our precious tax dollars."

The act creates a 12-member bi-partisan commission composed of eight members of Congress and four private citizens. The commission - to be paid for by cutting a portion of the current federal budget - will evaluate each agency and recommend to Congress if it should be abolished, streamlined, consolidated or reauthorized with recommendations for improvement.

American taxpayers, customers of each agency, and state and local government will be encouraged to voice through public hearings, the Internet and other means their opinions on whether the agency is needed, how effective it is and the quality of its service to taxpayers.

"Sunset has a proven record and will end bureaucratic duplication and outdated bureaus," said Brady. "It will also promote accountability and customer service within agencies that haven't demonstrated either in the past."