WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee’s bipartisan Government Performance Task Force, released the following statement on today’s White House proposal to consolidate six overlapping federal agencies and departments into a single department that will work to increase economic competitiveness, promote more exports and support America’s small businesses.

“This is a promising start to what I hope will be a sustained effort to look for improved performance and greater efficiency among every agency and department across the federal government.

“Make no mistake: there’s still plenty to do. In 2012, it makes absolutely no sense that the federal government operates 82 teacher quality programs within 10 separate agencies – and 56 separate programs spread across 20 agencies that deal with financial literacy.

“As a result of our Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, which is now law, Congress now requires federal agencies to set clear performance goals and work to knock-down agency ‘silos’ in order to improve results. This new framework increases transparency, improves accountability and helps point the way to further strategic reforms that will save taxpayer dollars.”