{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=30a8cef2-ea28-42d6-89ad-d337ed565d65", "Congress Passes Bipartisan Bill to Eliminate Unused and Outdated Government Reports", "2014-11-13", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON -- Today, a bipartisan group of Senators highlighted the passage of common-sense legislation to modify or eliminate more than 50 unnecessary, duplicative, or outdated reports and notification requirements produced by federal agencies and departments, that are required by law to be submitted to Congress.\r\nThe Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 (H.R. 4194) was reported out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July 2014 with a substitute amendment sponsored by Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), and Federal and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). The measure eliminates or modifies 51 Congressionally mandated reports. Eliminating these reporting requirements will free up resources so that agencies can better focus on accomplishing their missions. H.R. 4194 was introduced in the House by Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Okla.) in March 2014. Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).\r\n\u201cThis common-sense, bipartisan bill carries on the past good work of our Committee in finding ways to increase efficiency in the federal government and save taxpayer dollars,\u201d Chairman Carper said. \u201cThis bill follows up on the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, which I introduced with Sens. Warner and Akaka, by ensuring that agencies are not spending resources and taxpayer dollars producing reports that are submitted to Congress and not used. Those of us in Congress have a responsibility to be judicious stewards of the resources taxpayers invest in federal programs, and ensure those resources are managed honestly, transparently and effectively. This bill helps us do just that. I\u2019d like to thank Sens. Coburn, McCaskill, and Warner, and Chairman Darrell Issa for their leadership on this effort.\u201d\r\n\u201cCutting government reports that no one reads is a no-brainer,\u201d Ranking Member Coburn said. \u201cCongressman Issa and his staff deserve credit for their hard work over a year preparing this list of unread reports. I hope that the Administration and the incoming Congress use this effort as a model for working together not just to eliminate reports, but to eliminate unnecessary and duplicative programs.\u201d\r\n\u201cThis is another step toward a commonsense goal,\u201d Senator McCaskill said. \u201cOnce we get this bill across the finish line, I hope Americans gain a little more confidence in government knowing that Congress took action to trim fat from the federal government by reducing the tax dollars spent on costly and unnecessary reports.\u201d\r\nThe legislation, now pending a signature by the President, would reduce the amount of reports mandated by Congress for the following federal agencies:\r\n \r\nDepartment of Agriculture\r\nDepartment of Commerce\r\nCorporation for Community Service\r\nDepartment of Defense\r\nDepartment of Education\r\nDepartment of Energy\r\nEnvironmental Protection Agency\r\nExecutive Office of the President\r\nGovernment Accountability Office\r\nDepartment of Homeland Security\r\nDepartment of Housing and Urban Development\r\nDepartment of Interior\r\nDepartment of Labor\r\nOffice of the Director of National Intelligence\r\nDepartment of State\r\nDepartment of Transportation\r\nDepartment of Treasury\r\nDepartment of Veterans Affairs", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=30a8cef2-ea28-42d6-89ad-d337ed565d65"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2746981121599674, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}