Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 6.djvu/105

 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—APR. 13, 2000 114 STAT. 3161 (1) strengthening America's public schools while respecting State and local control is critically important to the future of our children and our Nation; (2) education is a local responsibility, a State priority, and a national concern; (3) a partnership with the Nation's governors, parents, teachers, and principals must take place in order to strengthen public schools and foster educational excellence; (4) the consolidation of various Federal education programs will benefit our Nation's children, parents, and teachers by sending more dollars directly to the classroom; and (5) our Nation's children deserve an educational system that will provide opportunities to excel. (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—I t is the sense of the Congress that— (1) Congress should enact legislation that would consolidate 31 Federal K-12 education programs; and (2) the Department of Education, the States, and local educational agencies should work together to ensure that not less than 95 percent of all funds appropriated for the purpose of carrying out elementary and secondary education programs administered by the Department of Education are spent for our children in their classrooms. Subtitle B—Sense of the House Provisions SEC. 311. SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE. (a) FINDINGS. — The House finds that— (1) while the budget may be in balance, it continues to be ridden with waste, fraud, and abuse; (2) just last month, auditors documented more than $19,000,000,000 in improper payments each year by such agencies as the Agency of International Development, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Defense; (3) the General Accounting Office recently reported that the financial management practices of some Federal agencies are so poor that it is unable to determine the full extent of improper Government payments; and (4) the General Accounting Office now lists a record number of 25 Federal programs that are at "high risk" of waste, fraud, and abuse. (b) SENSE OF THE HOUSE. — It is the sense of the House that the Committee on the Budget has created task forces to address this issue and that the President should take immediate steps to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse within the Federal Government and report on such actions to Congress and that any resulting savings should be dedicated to debt reduction and tax relief. SEC. 312. SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING EMERGENCY SPENDING. It is the sense of the House that, as part of a comprehensive reform of the budget process, the Committees on the Budget should develop a definition of, and a process for, funding emergencies

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