Reps. Tom Graves and Debbie Wasserman Schultz don’t agree on much, but the conservative and liberal lawmakers do share one goal when it comes to cutting government.
Both Graves, a Republican from Georgia, and Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman from Florida, voiced support for shuttering the Open World Leadership Center.
The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, which was debated on the House floor Tuesday, funds the operations of the House of Representatives and associated agencies, such as the Capitol Police, the Congressional Budget Office and the Library of Congress.
A proposed amendment would end the Open World Leadership Center, saving taxpayers approximately $5.7 million in fiscal year 2016.
According to the organization, the center was founded in 1999 as the Open World Russian Leadership Program “to improve relations and mutual understanding between the two participating nations [Russia and the United States].” It became a permanent project under its current name in 2000.
According to the program’s mission statement, its purpose is “to enhance understanding and capabilities for cooperation between the United States and the countries of Eurasia by developing a network of leaders in the region who have gained significant, firsthand exposure to America’s democratic, accountable government and its free-market system.”
Critics say what began as a one-time project has become an unnecessary yearly expense.
The amendment would end the organization’s yearly funding and allocate a final $1 million for its closing expenses.
Graves, chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations, told The Daily Signal the program “has long outlasted its usefulness.” He said although there “certainly is a role for the U.S. government to play in this type of outreach, there are approximately 95 similar programs already administered government-wide. It’s time to bring this program to an end.”
Wasserman Schultz, ranking member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations, called the agency a “square peg in a round hole of this bill.” She questioned whether the expense for a program that should be characterized as “nice-to-have” can be afforded, or even included in the funding bill.
The bill is expected to come up for a vote on the House floor Tuesday.
UPDATE: The amendment, offered on the House floor by Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, was approved Tuesday. Wasserman Shultz, although a supporter of ending the program, opposed the amendment on the floor because of how the money was allocated. The final version of the amendment cut funding outright, rather than allocating a final $1 million to the program.
