Citizens Against Government Waste endorses Chuck Fleischmann's legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste has announced their support of Congressman Chuck Fleischmann’s “Stop Green Initiative Abuse Act of 2011” – a bill that would eliminate the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program.

“On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support [H.R. 3441, the Stop Green Initiative Abuse Act],” says CAGW President Thomas Schatz in his letter of support.

“[This legislation] would save $2.1 billion over 10 years. The elimination of the WAP is among the recommendations highlighted in CAGW’s Prime Cuts…I strongly urge you to support Rep. Fleischmann’s legislation. All votes on H.R. 3441 will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2011 Congressional Ratings,” Schatz continues.

“I am glad Citizens Against Government Waste has announced their support of my bill. It is imperative we get our fiscal house in order and stop spending recklessly. The Weatherization Assistance Program is duplicative and has been found to be fraught with waste and abuse. This is a chance to save the taxpayers $2.1 billion and continue down the path of getting our federal budget under control. I promised the citizens of East Tennessee that I would fight to reduce government spending and this legislation is one part of me working to keep that promise,” Fleischmann said.

Citizens Against Government Waste says it is “a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government.” To learn more, please visit: https://www.cagw.org.

The Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program was originally created in the 1970’s. However, other federal programs, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), are already in place to assist low-income households in managing energy costs.

In December 2010, the Tennessee Comptroller General’s office released a review of the program citing that weatherization contractors had, in nearly half of the cases studied, failed to implement critically recommended measures to properly weatherize homes. The review also noted that funds for the program were used for other assistance measures that had nothing to do with weatherization.

The Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Energy also conducted a review of this program concluding that weatherization work on homes was poorly administered and led to potentially harmful effects for home inhabitants. The State of Delaware actually suspended their weatherization program due to “fraud and mismanagement”.

The Weatherization Assistance Program received the most votes from the American people during the week Congressman Fleischmann lead the YouCut effort.

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Below you will find the letter of endorsement from Citizens Against Government Waste.