WASHINGTON –Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the Homeland Security Appropriations bill contains a provision he spearheaded that would ensure additional oversight of contracts rewarded for the Secure Border Initiative. The bill passed the Senate late tonight and will now be sent to the President to be signed into law.
The provision directs the Inspector General to review and report on any contract or task order for more than $20 million that relates to the Secure Border Initiative program. The bill also specifies that any reviews by the Inspector General must begin within 180 days after the contract is awarded.
“Just last week, the Inspector General’s office at the Department of Transportation released a report recommending that a contracting program be shut down. You have to be naïve to think that the same type of waste, fraud and abuse isn’t going on at other agencies,” Grassley said. “Inspectors general are well known for their work to root out waste, fraud and abuse. I expect the Homeland Security Inspector General will do nothing less when it comes to these contracts, especially when it comes to our national security.”
Grassley first began addressing this issue during debate of a comprehensive immigration reform bill. He proposed an amendment to require review of contracts during Judiciary Committee deliberations that was accepted to the bill. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives have not been able to reach a compromise on the two bills. Since no agreement on immigration reform has been reached, Grassley’s provision in the Homeland Security spending bill will help ensure that contracts approved in the meantime are being properly and independently vetted.
Grassley was also a cosponsor of legislation that would direct the Office of Management and Budget to create a searchable database on the Internet accessible by the public at no cost. The database would include for each entity receiving federal funding (1) the amount of federal funds received in each of the last 10 fiscal years; (2) an itemized breakdown of each transaction; (3) the entity's location and primary location of performance; and (4) a unique identifier for the entity and its parent entity. The legislation was signed into law this week.
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