Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 962, the Forgotten Funds Act. This bill would mandate that federally appropriated funds that ultimately go unspent, must be returned to the Treasury to pay down the deficit.

Rather than allow these funds to sit untouched, the Forgotten Funds Act will make sure that taxpayer money, not spent prior to the end of FY 2008, be returned to the Treasury and used for the most urgent responsibility facing the federal government– deficit reduction.

According to the President’s Office of Management and Budget, $703 billion will be unspent by the end of FY 2011. Since 1996, there has been an average of $372 billion in unspent funds at the end of each fiscal year.

“We are broke and we need to stop the out-of-control spending. But for the money that has already been pried from the hands of the American taxpayer, we need to put it to good use.
 
“Nothing is more glaringly dangerous to our fiscal house than our $1.4 trillion deficit. There is absolutely no reason why this money should not be used to pay down the deficit and get our country back on a path of fiscal solvency.

“The Forgotten Funds Act will ensure we get rid of unnecessary spending, tackle our deficit, and regain the value of putting money to work. I encourage my colleagues to support this measure.”