To amend title 44, United States Code, to eliminate the mandatory printing of bills and resolutions for the use of offices of Members of Congress.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his assistance in bringing this bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, our national debt just recently broke $14 trillion. It is well past time for Washington to get serious about cutting spending, and that effort starts right here in our own House.

With this in mind, Speaker Boehner proposed a measure to cut every Member's budget by 5 percent. In a 410-13

vote, the measure to save $35 million easily passed. It's called leading by example.

Another simple way to continue this process is by passing legislation that I brought up in the last Congress and which became part of the YouCut initiative, which gives all taxpayers the ability to vote on what Federal spending they want Congress to cut.

When a Member of Congress introduces or originally cosponsors a bill, we automatically receive multiple printed copies of the legislation, regardless if we have asked for them.

When the health care bill was introduced, the Government Printing Office printed and delivered over 100,000 pieces of paper to the original cosponsors alone. That is just one single piece of legislation we're talking about. At the start of Congress, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, which repeals the onerous 1099 provision of the health care bill, won the support of 245 original cosponsors, all of whom will automatically receive multiple printed copies of the bill.

For each bill introduced, there are between 300 and 475 copies printed. This overprinting of bills is wasteful and inefficient at a time when we need to be tightening our budgetary belts and looking for greater efficiencies. In the 111th Congress, nearly 14,000 bills were introduced. That is a lot of unnecessary and costly printing.

That is why I introduced the Stop the OverPrinting Act--to save both time and money. This bill is a near mirror image of the legislation I introduced last year in H.R. 4640, keeping with the initial intent to strictly end the wasteful practice of printing copies of legislation for Members.

However, note that this bill will not hinder the daily operation of the House, the archiving process, or affect the transparency that this Congress has made a priority. This legislation will lead to significant savings each and every year--money that can be used, frankly, for better uses.

With technological advancements, we have become a paperless world. It is a waste of taxpayer dollars to automatically print and send multiple unsolicited copies of something that is readily available online. Should a Member's office truly need a printed copy, they will still be available in the document rooms and also in the committees.

Too many people in Washington don't seem to care about the dollar amount unless it has a ``B'' or a ``T'' after it, and that is the type of mentality that needs to change here in Washington and was mandated in the November elections. We need to be looking for cost savings and turning over every possible rock. With our current deficit, there should be no such thing as spending cuts just being a drop in the bucket. Every dollar and every cent counts in the real world, and it should here, too.

The money we spend here in Congress is not ours; it is the people's. House Republicans have been stressing this for some time, and together we proposed over $155 billion in savings for taxpayers throughout the 111th Congress with the YouCut initiative alone. Through this program, Americans asked Congress to support spending cuts on a wide variety of issues, including the End the Stimulus Advertising Act, which would have eliminated the unneeded highway signs notifying the public of stimulus-funded projects. With no real purpose, tens of millions of dollars could have been saved. Also considered were proposals requiring Federal employees to pay back taxes, stopping the cycle of bailouts, and putting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back on budget.

The American people have spoken loudly that we must get our fiscal house in order. While previous efforts to curb wasteful spending were not successful, I am hoping that under our new leadership we will have far better results.

I would like to thank the leadership for their support in working to implement laws that will reform flawed aspects of our government and save taxpayer dollars, be it a dollar, a million, or a billion. I am encouraged by the fact that the new majority is listening to the will of the people to eliminate inefficiency and waste. Passing the Stop the OverPrinting Act today is an important step in beginning this process.

I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 292) to amend title 44, United States Code, to eliminate the mandatory printing of bills and resolutions by the Government Printing Office for the use of the House of Representatives and Senate, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 4 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 292, the STOP Act, which ends the automatic overprinting of bills and resolutions by the Government Printing Office for distribution to Members of the House of Representatives and Senate.

I would also like to thank Ranking Member Brady and Chairman Lungren for their support on this matter.

Mr. Speaker, let me emphasize that this bill is not a criticism of the GPO nor its hardworking employees. The GPO does--and does well-- what Congress directs it to do. We are simply looking for ways and opportunities to reduce the cost of government.

Since its establishment in 1860, the GPO has been the printer of record for our Congressional Record, committee reports, the well- respected Constitution Annotated, the Federal Register, and many other historic and necessary documents that this institution and our government need to do our collective work. But, Mr. Speaker, in this 112th Congress, well into the 21st century, in an age of iPads, Kindles, BlackBerries, and iPhones, it is simply no longer necessary to require excess printing and the delivery to our offices of thousands and thousands of pages of bills and resolutions which simply end up in the trash.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 292 is another initial step in this majority's continued commitment to reducing unnecessary government spending, addressing our deficit and debt, and finding greater efficiencies within our governmental offices and agencies. With over 8,000 bills and resolutions introduced in the 111th Congress and multiple copies of each distributed to Members, eliminating this unnecessary printing and wasteful spending is a small, but productive, first step, and we will continue to look at other House operations for ways in which we might further reduce the cost of government. Mr. Speaker, this bill is a commonsense measure which prudently adjusts our modern-day mechanisms of government to the times in which we live.

I might also add that there will be an environmental benefit as well. With reduced energy and paper needs, the GPO's demand for paper and our resources will be reduced by this act, helping us continue our commitment to be better stewards of our environment, our natural resources, and, of course, our House operations.

As we promised in the Pledge to America and as we have promised here on the floor during these initial days of the 112th Congress and as we have tangibly verified by our transparency-enhanced Rules Package, our bipartisan

vote to trim Congress' budget, and now through this bill, this Republican majority is committed to fiscal stewardship, to having a hawkish and relentless eye towards waste and inefficiency, and a continued commitment throughout this 112th Congress to reduce spending, create private sector jobs, and challenge ourselves not just in word and rhetoric but, more importantly, in action and meaningful legislation.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, introduced by my good colleague from New York, should garner overwhelming bipartisan support. I thank him for introducing it and for his commitment to a more responsible and efficient stewardship of taxpayer dollars. I urge all of my colleagues to support this matter.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few minutes today to discuss the continued need in Congress for reduced administrative spending and increased accountability to the American people.

In a time when we are keenly aware of the need for civility and cooperation in order to improve the American quality of life, I believe there is at least one thing both Democrats and Republicans can agree on and which should be the springboard towards meaningful change.

This belief is that the federal government has an obligation to the American people to be stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars by operating in an efficient manner and to reduce spending whenever possible.

For this reason, I support bills like H.R. 292, the Stop the OverPrinting Act, which will help eliminate the wasteful production of unnecessary copies of bills and resolutions in Congress.

The STOP Act will not only do its part for the environment by reducing Congress' paper consumption, but it will also take a step, even if just a small one, towards more efficient operations, increased accountability and reduced government spending. As we are all aware in this economy, every little bit helps.

The STOP Act was introduced by my colleague from across the aisle, the honorable gentleman from New York, Christopher Lee. I am happy to stand in bipartisan support and know that there will be many opportunities in the future to find common ground and remain accountable to the hard working citizens we represent.

In fact, I would like to mention one such opportunity I offered during the 111th Congress and which I plan to reintroduce in the 112th, the Cost Recovery and Fair Value for Services Act. This legislation will help us meet our obligation to the American people by ensuring that the federal agencies within the executive branch set their user fees for services provided at rates that are both equitable and cost- effective.

This act would require the chief financial officer of every federal agency to provide a report to the director of the Office of Management and Budget which would review fees charged for services provided and make recommendations based on equitability with consideration to a user's ability to pay and the extent to which the use of the service provides a public benefit.

By setting appropriate user fee rates, agencies can contribute to the shared fiscal responsibility that our current economic situation demands without overburdening the public or inhibiting public engagement.

It is my hope that when this legislation arrives on the House floor, colleagues from both parties will share the same bipartisan spirit I exhibit today and support my efforts to control wasteful spending and restore fiscal accountability.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the STOP Act.

First we reduced congressional budgets and now I stand in support of another bill that seeks to do what my constituents have asked me to do: Find ways reducing the federal deficit and saving taxpayer money. The STOP Act accomplishes this by helping the government operate more efficiently, stop wasteful spending and all the while helping the environment.

I have often heard the lament from small business owners across my district we would all be better off if government were run more like a business. Today, for businesses in Quakertown, Bensalem, and in between, many transactions are now entirely paperless. With this bill, Congress is taking a step in that direction.

Going hand-in-hand with efficiency, the STOP Act will also help end wasteful spending in government. Mr. Speaker, without the STOP Act, Congress will spend seven million dollars this year alone on printing costs. In the last Congress, there were nearly 14,000 different bills introduced. Some of those bills, like last year's healthcare law, ran thousands of pages in length. In an era when constituents in Bucks County and across Pennsylvania's eighth congressional district are being forced to find every savings in their household budget, so should Congress. The STOP Act will trim 35 million dollars from the operational budget of Congress over the next 10 years.

The STOP Act will also end needless waste that harms our environment. All across America citizens are pitching in to do their part for the environment. Shoppers in Langhorne carry their own reusable bags to Geunardi's grocery store, families in Bristol install compact fluorescent light bulbs in their homes, and countless civic groups and businesses across our nation and across the eighth district of Pennsylvania adopt highways to keep our roads clean and our environment healthy. If citizens are asked and expected to do their part, Congress must do the same.

The STOP Act is an important demonstration to Americans that this Congress is serious about ending government waste, ending government inefficiencies and ending needless overuse of environmental resources.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I will support this bill in the form now before the House. It certainly bothers me to see multiple copies of bills in our office's recycling bins every day. Too many bill copies waste time, trees, and taxpayer dollars.

The gentleman is right to examine this matter and try to effect a reduction if appropriate. This amended bill represents a vast improvement from the original version. Concerns were raised about the original bill's possible adverse effect on the Clerk's staff and others who labor in support positions inside the House and Senate, so I commend the gentleman for listening to concerns and making sensible changes.

As we consider this bill, we must remember that our democracy doesn't work well without transparency in government. Nobody wants to disrupt the legislative process inadvertently or to make it harder for any Americans to read the bills.

Although we can't forget that while many Americans still do not have adequate access to the Internet, all congressional offices certainly have the ability to obtain their own bill copies when they need to. So this bill rightly maintains public access to important documents while saving the people's money.

Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.