Lawmaker: Obama’s Africa trip would fund 1,350 weeks of White House tours

Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.) suggested Friday that rather than spend $100 million on President Obama’s pending trip to Africa, the administration should fund the White House tours canceled under sequestration.

“For the cost of this trip to Africa, you could have 1,350 weeks of White House tours, which the White House has canceled indefinitely due to budget constraints,” Holding said on the House floor.

Holding said with the country more than $16 trillion in debt, the administration should not be looking to spend $100 million on a weeklong visit to Africa.

{mosads}The White House has defended the trip, which will reportedly involve sending over Secret Service agents, military jets and ships to Africa. But Holding said that while security is needed, these costs are “excessive.”

“It is no secret that we need to rein in government spending, and the Obama administration has regularly and repeatedly shown a lack of judgment for when and where to make cuts,” Holding said.

“The numbers don’t lie: either the administration is bad at math, or they simply don’t see a problem with their excessive spending,” he added. “The American people have had enough of the frivolous and careless spending, and they deserve real, appropriate cuts from this excessive administration.”