Costa Backs Legislation to Require Oversight of Federal Agency Spending

WASHINGTON, DC-Citing, "A need to keep a close watch ontaxpayer dollars," Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) today announced he was cosponsoringtwo bills requiring Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibility ofexecutive-branch oversight; HR 841 and HR 5315.

HR 841 mandates hearings when the non-partisan GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO) raises a red flag over an agency's accountingpractice and HR 5315, The Accountability in Government Act of 2006, requirescabinet secretaries to face reconfirmation by the Senate if their agency cannotperform a clean audit.

"These are both instrumental pieces of legislation that worktowards higher fiscal accountability," Costa declared. He urged hiscolleagues in Congress to ask more questions about the Bush Administration'sirresponsible fiscal policies. "Americantaxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent by the Administration,"Costa pointed out.

The GAO reports that 19 of 24 federal agencies are not incompliance with all federal accounting audit standards and cannot fully explainhow they have spent taxpayer money appropriated by Congress. "Nobody would runa household or business this recklessly, but that's how Washingtonis being run," the Fresnolawmaker noted.

"Future generations will have to pay back, with interest,the money the federal government is borrowing from other countries due to thisfiscal recklessness," Costa continued. "As a result record-high budget deficits four years in a row, thefederal debt has ballooned to $8.3 trillion; much of which is borrowed fromforeign countries."

Inspectors General in each federal agency complete regularreports identifying cases of fraud, waste and abuse within their agencies. "Theirfindings, however, are often ignored by their own agencies and anAdministration-compliant Congress," stated Costa.

"Together these two pieces of legislation are key in theeffort to maintain accountability," Costa concluded.

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A summary and contact information for HR 841 and HR 5315 iscontained in the attached PDF file.