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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced today that he has introduced the Decrease Spending Now Act in the Senate, which requires the Obama administration to cut $45 billion in unused taxpayer dollars sitting in federal coffers. Introduced in the U.S. House by Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), the bill requires that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescind funds from unobligated balances of discretionary appropriations and report to Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury on these efforts within 60 days. The legislation would not affect discretionary funds for the Defense Department, Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration. A recent OMB report found over $700 billion in unobligated funds, money sitting unspent by federal agencies.

“With a $14 trillion national debt and a $1.6 trillion deficit, we must come to the realization that we cannot continue to spend money we don’t have. This bill will mark an important step forward in saving taxpayer dollars. Not only should we cut spending but we should rescind money that remains unspent by federal agencies. The American people can no longer afford a government that spends money needlessly,” said Senator Rubio. “Moreover, this commonsense measure has already won bipartisan approval in the Senate with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats alike. I’m proud to be working with Rep. Price who has demonstrated strong leadership in forcing Washington to realize that we can no longer continue the free-spending days of the past.”

In the Senate, 81 Senators – including 34 Democrats – are already on record in support of requiring the administration to find almost $45 billion in budget rescissions. As part of S.223, the FAA Reauthorization, the Senate overwhelmingly voted for an amendment offered by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) that would have repealed the ObamaCare 1099 provision and paid for the repeal by requiring the OMB Director to produce a package of nearly $45 billion in budget rescissions of unobligated funds.

With today’s announcement, Congressman Tom Price, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, said, “There are billions in unspent, unobligated dollars gathering dust in Washington while we debate over how to cut spending and get our nation’s fiscal house in order. We ought to rescind what is not being spent and force the Obama Administration to get off the sidelines of this debate and show some leadership. I appreciate Senator Rubio’s support and his willingness to lead in pushing for a rescissions package that can save taxpayer dollars immediately and not leave them to the future whims of the Washington bureaucracy. The introduction of legislation in both the House and Senate will help move this process forward.”