Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, attempting to strike a more conservative fiscal posture, called Friday for the elimination of four government agencies to help balance the federal budget.
In a speech to small-newspaper executives, Dole said Congress should abolish the departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development."When they were created, they were supposed to be the answer to our challenges in education, poverty, energy and economic opportunity," Dole said. "Today these agencies are defined more by bottlenecks and bureaucracy, scandal and waste, than anything remotely connected with success."
The Kansas Republican, who is expected to announce his bid for the presidency next month, used the speech to the National Newspaper Association to outline several campaign themes as well as his background of military and government service.
In an attempt to better position himself in the Republican primary against conservatives such as Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, Dole emphasized his commitment to bringing down government spending by attacking unpopular government agencies.
Dole was particularly critical of the Department of Education, which, he said, was led by the National Teachers Association and "the political elite at the expense of parents and school boards and local communities."
Dole acknowledged he voted for the creation of the Department of Energy in 1977 because he believed it could deal with the energy crisis. But, he said, the agency has "only made things worse." He said many of Energy's functions could be taken over by other departments.