Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Scott Perry’s (PA-4) bipartisan legislation to reduce wasteful spending at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) passed the U.S. House by voice vote on Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security Stop Asset and Vehicle Excess Act, or the “DHS SAVE Act” (H.R. 366), requires the Under Secretary of Management for DHS to improve management of its vehicle fleet. H.R. 366 now goes to the U.S. Senate.

In October 2015, the DHS Inspector General (IG) released a scathing report of the Federal Protective Service (FPS) management of its vehicle fleet, a report that reads like a laundry list of poor management decisions. The IG found that FPS had more vehicles than officers, and officers were authorized to drive to and from work with government-owned vehicles. Additionally, the report stated that FPS was “not in compliance with Federal and departmental requirements.”  According to the IG, FPS wasted more than $2.5 million in FY14 on its vehicle fleet due to numerous management failures.

In December 2015, Representative Perry, in his capacity as Chairman of the Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, convened a hearing to further examine findings of the IG report.

“The American taxpayer deserves much better than what was outlined in the IG report. The management failures demonstrate a culture of waste by DHS regarding taxpayer money, which is reprehensible and unacceptable. My bill aims to change this culture,” Rep. Perry said.

“With the second largest civilian vehicle fleet in the Federal government, DHS must have stricter controls in place at the headquarters level in order to rein in rogue components. Every dollar wasted on mismanagement is one less that goes to actually protecting the public," Rep. Perry said.

 “I commend the leadership of Congressman Perry on his legislation to bolster the security of our homeland,” said U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. “These 17 House passed Homeland Security Committee bills are all common sense solutions to improve our border security, counterterrorism posture, transportation security, and cyber defenses, as well as enhancing first responder capabilities, and streamlining the management efficiency of the Department of Homeland Security. The sooner these critical bills pass the Senate and become law, the safer the American homeland and our people will be.”

To learn more about the other homeland security bills passed by the U.S. House Tuesday, please visit: https://homeland.house.gov/press/mccaul-passage-17-bills-enhance-homeland-security/.

Specifically, the DHS SAVE Act:

•           Improves management of DHS’ vehicle fleets by authorizing the Under Secretary for Management to oversee vehicle fleets;

•           Requires the components to evaluate its fleets on an ongoing basis;

•           Includes penalties for mismanagement of fleets; and

•           Requires DHS to identify alternative methods for management of its fleets.