Floor Debate on Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (S.386)
Madam Chairwoman, I’m pleased to speak in support of the Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act. As the lead Republican cosponsor of this timely anti-fraud legislation, I believe it is an important component to help get both the financial and housing markets back on track. The fraud enforcement tools and resources provided in this bill are necessary. They will ensure that the taxpayer dollars that have been expended to shore up banks and financial institutions, corporations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t lost to fraud, waste, or abuse.
This bill sends a message to would-be bad actors that their conduct will have repercussions from here on out. It will also make sure that money lost to fraud can be recovered by the False Claims Act. Most importantly, this bill will help show the American people that we’re doing something to try and prevent future frauds and recover money lost to fraud and abuse. That is why I’m voting for cloture on the bill.
Early in the process of bringing this bill to the floor, I explained to the Democratic leadership, that I wanted an open process for amendments to be considered on this bill before I supported cloture. The leadership honored that and we had a number of amendments filed on the bill. We’ve spent a week and have debated and disposed of a number of amendments to the bill. We have some others that remain outstanding that are good amendments and should be debated on a housing or banking bill that’s coming up in the near future.
It’s now time to pass this bill. Our law enforcement officials need these tools and resources now. That is why I’m going to vote for cloture on the bill.
Taxpayers have been asked to shoulder an enormous burden—be it the bailout of financial institutions, an economic stimulus bill that handed out $1 trillion, and more recently an omnibus appropriations bill loaded full of government spending. Whether or not you agree with these expenditures, we simply cannot allow these funds to be unprotected from fraud, waste, or abuse.
This legislation ensures that our law enforcement officials and prosecutors have the tools necessary to enforce our laws and the resources to hunt down bad actors. It makes revisions to our criminal fraud laws to ensure that complex financial and mortgage crimes aren’t outside the scope of federal jurisdiction in the future. It also makes necessary corrections to our anti-money laundering laws to ensure that a recent Supreme Court decision doesn’t limit the ability of the Department of Justice to go after criminals who launder their ill gotten funds.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the bill amends the civil False Claims Act to ensure that taxpayer money lost to fraud, waste, or abuse can be recovered. Back in 1986, I authored major revisions to the False Claims Act in response to a rise in fraud against the government by defense contractors. Since those revisions were signed into law by President Reagan, the False Claims Act has recovered over $22 billion in taxpayer dollars.
This powerful law allows citizen taxpayer to act as private attorneys general by going to court on behalf of the government when they know of fraud against the government. These qui tam whistleblowers are the heart and soul of the False Claims Act. They uncover fraud from the inside, bringing schemes to light so that taxpayers aren’t taken for a ride. However, in recent years litigation fueled by powerful government defense and healthcare contractors has created legal loopholes that threaten the application of this powerful tool. This legislation fixes this ensuring that no fraud can go unpunished by simply navigating through legal loopholes.
This bill will help deter potential defrauders from attempting to scam the government. In addition, this legislation will help instill confidence back into the housing and financial markets. I hope my colleagues will join by voting for cloture on the bill to help make sure that taxpayer dollars are protected.
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