U.S. Sen. James Lankford was quick to praise the Senate for approval of the massive Energy and Water Development bill, noting that it was passed “in an open process.”
The Republican Senator said the appropriations Act includes a proposal from his government waste report entitled, “Federal Fumbles: 100 ways the government dropped the ball.”
“This is the first time this appropriations bill has passed the senate since 2009. To avoid last-minute continuing resolutions, backroom deals and omnibus bills, we must move bills through a regular order appropriations process,” said the Senator.
He said the open process allows more members to take part in the debate and the transparent process allows more people to voice their opinions.
“This Energy and Water appropriations bill provides necessary funding for the U.S. Army Corps of engineers to meet their critical infrastructure mission and it includes needed reforms to the National Nuclear Security Administration to prevent massive cost overruns that have plagued the agency in the past,” said Lankford.
The bill included a provision to direct the National Nuclear Security Administration to routinely assess performance on major projects in an effort to identify problems in cost and timeline estimates. It was part of his federal government waste and solutions report released last year. The reported noted that one project of the NNSA was originally estimated in 2002 to cost $1 billion but by2014, the project had ballooned to nearly $8 billion and the timeline for completion was delayed by years.
The same report said the Department of Energy’s contracting management has spent 25 years on the GAO’s high-risk list.