House to vote on Lee's spending proposal

Legislation introduced by Congressman Chris Lee, R-NY, 26th District, to cut wasteful spending has been selected by taxpayers as this week's YouCut winner.

Lee's legislation, H.R. 4640 -- STOP the Over Printing Act -- would end the long-standing practice of delivering five printed copies of legislation to every sponsor and original cosponsor, regardless of the length of the legislation. Ending this costly practice would save taxpayers approximately $35 million over the next 10 years.

"I introduced the STOP the Over Printing Act earlier this year as a commonsense way to conserve resources and eliminate some of the wasteful spending Western New Yorkers have grown tired of," said Lee. "Too many in Washington don't seem to care how much something costs unless there is a ‘B' or ‘T' associated with the dollar amount, and we need to change that philosophy and understand that ever little bit counts."

YouCut is a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress and return fiscal responsibility to Washington, Lee said. It offers the public a list of proposals aimed at reducing government spending, in which participants may vote for the one proposal that they would most like to see addressed by Congress. The following week, House Republicans forced a vote on the House floor on whether or not to take up and debate the top vote-getter selected by the public.