Grassley Q & A: Government Accountability
February 27, 2009
Q: What does government accountability mean to you?
A: The federal government needs to be held accountable for its actions. Accountability helps to maintain the confidence and faith of the American people and is best accomplished by the government performing its work in an open and transparent way. American’s interests can best be served when sunshine is allowed to shine in to the workings of government. America’s government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our founders believed in this when they created our Republic and established the representative branch of government as an equal in the three branches of government. And they gave Congress the responsibility to oversee the federal bureaucracy. As a United States Senator, I have a duty inherent in the Constitution to hold the government accountable by conducting oversight of the Executive and Judicial branches to make sure they are faithfully executing the laws consistent with the intent of Congress. If this oversight uncovers problems or inconsistencies, I need to expose that and propose legislation or other solutions to fix it.
Q: What legislation have you proposed to keep the government accountable?
A: I recently introduced the False Claims Act Clarification Act of 2009 with Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. This legislation updates the False Claims Act or Lincoln’s Law as it’s known, which has been weakened because of recent rulings by federal courts, including the Supreme Court. I first updated the False Claims Act with Representative Howard Berman in 1986, and it has become the government’s most effective weapon against fraud and abuse of government programs. It has helped the government recover more than $21 billion that would’ve been lost. My new legislation will allow the False Claims Act to continue to work as the most effective tool in the federal government’s arsenal to fight fraud against the taxpayers. I have also proposed legislation with Senator Claire McCaskill that will help whistleblowers in the Legislative Branch by extending them the same rights afforded Executive Branch employees by the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act. As an original author and cosponsor of the 1989 law, I believe Congress should practice what it preaches and provide these same rights to whistleblowers who are employees of our own branch of government. Legislative Branch whistleblowers could be just as effective as many Executive Branch whistleblowers have been in exposing wrongdoing and bring about reform.
Q: What role do whistleblowers play in keeping the government accountable?
A: I have long relied upon whistleblowers who come forward with information on fraud, waste, and abuse of government programs. Whistleblowers are patriotic people that risk their livelihoods in order to point out the wrongdoing in government. Because whistleblowers know what skeletons are in the closet and where they are hidden, they are best able to explain why something is wrong and have the evidence to prove it. Whistleblowers are noble and deserve to be commended. I recently wrote a letter to President Obama hoping that he will honor these unsung heroes with an annual Rose Garden Ceremony. An event like that would send a message to the bureaucracy from the top down that fraud and abuse will not be tolerated. It also shows citizens and government employees that blowing the whistle on fraud and abuse is truly an individual’s civic responsibility. I’ve championed whistleblowers at the FBI, FDA, IRS, SEC and many other federal agencies. I’ve worked to ensure they are treated appropriately when I cosponsored the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. I am also supportive of Inspectors General who serve as independent watchdogs at federal agencies. Their work sifting through all the budgets and expenditures by conducting audits, performing program evaluations, investigating allegations of wrongdoing, and working closely with whistleblowers to uncover the truth provides the first line of defense in keeping the huge federal bureaucracy accountable. In addition to whistleblowers, the Inspectors General have been some of my greatest allies in my work to provide accountability and reduce fraudulent activity in the federal government.