Scalise amendment targeting hundreds of millions in DOD waste attached to DOD Appropriations Bill

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve Scalise successfully passed an amendment tonight to the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill targeting hundreds of millions of dollars by prohibiting the DoD from entering into new contracts to procure or produce costly biofuels. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

“In this post-sequestration time of tight Defense Department budgets, the Navy should not be wasting $170 million to prop-up the biofuels industry, especially at a time when Defense Secretary Hagel is significantly reducing training and maintenance of operating forces,” Scalise said. “It only makes sense for the U.S. military to use the most cost-effective fuel options available, but unfortunately that has not recently been the case within the Department of Defense. In tough economic times every dollar counts, and it’s only common-sense for DoD to start saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars by ending costly biofuel procurement and securing less expensive conventional jet fuel instead.”

Click here to watch Congressman Scalise discuss his amendment on the House Floor.

In March, the Defense Logistics Agency entered into a contract to purchase up to 15,000 gallons of biofuel for fighters at more than 15 times the cost of conventional jet fuel.

The text of the Scalise amendment reads:

SEC. 10002. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to enter into any contract after the date of the enactment of this Act for the procurement or production of any non-petroleum based fuel for use as the same purpose or as a drop-in substitute for petroleum.