Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Madam Speaker, Thanks · 43 wordsI thank Representative Burlison for yielding me time and for his support of this important legislation, H.R. 1722, the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act. I also offer special thanks to my fellow Iowan, Senator Joni Ernst, who is leading this bill in the Senate.¹Thanks Positioning · 23 wordsShe has been a true champion when it comes to exposing Washington’s waste and protecting the hard- earned dollars of the American people.Positioning Madam Speaker, Claims · 63 wordsWashington’s worst-kept secret is its prolific spending problem.Unearned certainty Families in Iowa and all across this country have to balance their checkbooks every single month. They budget. They plan, and when money is tight, they make it work or they do without. Washington should be held to that very same standard, especially at a time when our national debt is inching toward $400 trillion.² Positioning · 7 wordsHowever, instead of accountability, we get boondoggles.PositioningOff point Claims · 68 wordsTake Governor Newsom’s high-speed rail in California. It was supposed to cost $33 billion and connect Los Angeles to San Francisco by 2020.³ Today, it is more than $95 billion over budget and years behind schedule.⁴ After more than a decade and billions of taxpayer dollars, they are only now beginning to lay track, ⁵and the promised line between Los Angeles and San Francisco is nowhere in sight. Positioning · 14 wordsWhat the people were promised and what they got are two very different things.PositioningOff point Procedure · 6 wordsHowever, it is not just California.Procedure Claims · 69 wordsIn Honolulu, a rail project is $4.8 billion over budget, with its completion slipping from 2020 all the way to 2031.⁶ In Columbus, a corridor project is 19 years behind schedule.⁷ The Federal Reserve’s renovation ballooned to nearly $2.5 billion.⁸ Air Force One is billions over budget and years behind. The VA’s electronic health records system, meant to serve our veterans, tripled from $16 billion to nearly $50 billion.⁹ Madam Speaker, Positioning · 16 wordsthese are not rounding errors. These are betrayals of the people who have paid for them.PositioningOff point Claims · 10 wordsThat is why I introduced the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act. Procedure · 3 wordsIt is simple.Procedure Claims · 26 wordsIt requires the Federal Government to publicly disclose any taxpayer-funded project that is more than $1 billion over budget or more than 5 years behind schedule.¹⁰ Positioning · 23 wordsNo more hiding and no more burying the failures where no one can find them. Sunlight, as they say, is the best disinfectant.Positioning Procedure · 4 wordsHere is the truth: ProcedureUnearned certaintyReasoning · 12 wordsThe American people have a right to know where their money goes. Positioning · 53 wordsEvery dollar Washington wastes is a dollar taken from a farmer in Iowa, a nurse working a double shift, or a young family trying to get ahead. I did not come to Washington to protect its comfortable habit of wasting taxpayer money. I came here to defend the people who pay the bills.PositioningOff point Claims · 10 wordsThis bill puts them front and center where they belong. Thanks · 9 wordsI thank Senator Ernst once again for her partnership, ThanksThe ask · 18 wordsand I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense legislation. Positioning · 12 wordsThe people of Iowa are watching. The people of America are watching.PositioningOff point The ask · 7 wordsLet’s give them the transparency they deserve.