Turner: '(GSA) stimulating China, not the United States'

As the U.S. Congress probes a 2010 General Services Administration conference at a Las Vegas resort that cost a whopping $823,000, Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, R-Centerville, has released a statement on the government excess.

Turner attended the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on “Addressing the GSA’s Culture of Wasteful Spending.”

Turner questioned where the funds came from to pay for items included in a conference goodie or “swag” bag.

Turner's questions for the GSA can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ls37SdbEKU.

The list of items, many of which contained labels denoting that they had been manufactured in China, came from funds that were supposed to be allocated for repairs to U.S. Government buildings:

Among the items listed by Turner are:

• A blackjack dealer’s vest with a monogrammed conference logo (made in China);

• A participant yearbook (manufacturing country unknown);

• A commemorative stimulus coin in a black velvet box (manufacturing country unknown);

• A book about Las Vegas (printed in China);

• A water bottle and carabineer (made in China);

• A pen and pencil set (made in China);

• A bag with conference logo (made in China); and,

• A long-sleeved T-shirt with conference logo (made in El Salvador).

"It would seem to me that we are stimulating China, not the United States," Turner said. "Who had the authority to use taxpayers' dollars to pay for blackjack vests?"