House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) has vowed to use congressional oversight committees to crack down on waste in federal agencies.

• Singling out government food inspection regulations, Armey yesterday held up a pizza box and noted that if it were a cheese pizza, it would be inspected by the Food and Drug Administration -- but it would be under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture if it were a pepperoni pizza.

• Unsurprisingly, a recent General Accounting Office report found that almost a dozen federal agencies enforce 35 different laws in overseeing food safety.

• Armey wants federal agencies to report to Congress on "the manner in which they accomplish their mission" to "evaluate the extent to which that really is a service to the lives of the American people."

• Changes may soon be taking place in various federal agencies "when we can discover the opportunities for Congress to more rationally allocate the division of labor between" them, Armey said.

A 1993 law requires federal agencies to identify problems that need to be resolved and report then to Congress.

Source: Jennifer Kabbany, "Armey Targets Waste in Federal Agencies," Washington Times, February 12, 1999.