Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)
A bill cosponsored by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley that’s designed to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending has cleared the U.S. Senate and heads next to the House.
Grassley, a Republican, says the bill targets the use of travel and purchase cards by federal workers. Grassley says, “This goes back to investigations I’ve conducted mostly with the Defense Department but it also includes a lot of other agencies as well.”
He says the bill would help prevent charge card misuse and abuse by requiring agencies to take a series of steps to strengthen accountability and oversight.
Grassley says, “You can’t believe what government employees use their credit card for, seemingly with no embarrassment to go to houses of prostitution, to buy personal things, just all sorts of illegal use of credit card.” The legislation is called: The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act. By helping agencies to better track and analyze card charges, Grassley says it will help to curb wasteful spending and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely across the federal government.
Grassley says, “Another thing is to make sure inspectors general in various departments, starting with the Defense Department, make public what they’ve found out and how they police it so other departments can follow up with more financial controls.”
The new measure builds on an earlier bill Grassley introduced, the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012.