Q: How are you protecting taxpayer dollars?
A: The United States Senate recently passed my legislation to stop abuse of government charge cards. My legislation requires all federal agencies to establish strict internal controls for government charge cards and meaningful penalties for those who violate the public’s trust by defrauding taxpayers. Some of the common-sense safeguards that federal agencies now will be required to implement include cancelling government charge cards when an employee leaves an agency, reconciling charges with receipts (just like most of us do with our personal charge cards), and not allowing government employees to approve their own purchases. While it shouldn’t take an act of Congress for federal agencies to act responsibly and with this kind of common-sense as they conduct business with charge cards, investigations I’ve conducted in recent years turned up enough evidence pointing to the contrary. My scrutiny led to the reform legislation, and I’ll continue to push for its final passage on behalf of taxpayers.
Q: How did your investigations into government charge cards start?
A: In 2001, I heard allegations of abuses involving government charge cards at the Department of Defense, so I starting digging without knowing exactly where an investigation would lead. Unfortunately, the problem was far more widespread and involved agencies throughout government. A complete lack of management controls had resulted in literally millions of dollars of purchases that were either fraudulent, of questionable need, or unnecessarily expensive. Purchased items included kitchen appliances, sapphire rings, gambling, cruises, gentlemen’s clubs and even tabs at legalized brothels. These examples of the misuse of taxpayer dollars are slaps in the face to hard-working taxpayers.
Q: Why is government oversight so important?
A: Congress has a constitutional responsibility to oversee the federal bureaucracy. The dollars wasted by the government bureaucracy don’t grow on trees. They come from the pockets of hardworking taxpayers, and I want to make sure taxpayers are getting their money’s worth and the respect they deserve. That’s why I take my responsibility of congressional oversight very seriously. Whether it’s federal employees living high on the hog at the taxpayers dime or other misuse of taxpayer funds, I’ll continue to work as watchdog to root out fraud, waste and abuse.