[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1255-H1256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CREDIT CARD USE BY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Gekas] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, as everyone in the world knows, the Congress 
of the United States has been living on a credit card for many, many 
years now, decades. As a result, we have a huge national debt, and 
annual deficits that impinge upon the standard of living of every 
American. Well, now there comes to light that part of the credit card 
problem is in the Government itself.
  Starting sometime in 1993 or 1994, apparently Federal agencies have 
been allowed to issue credit cards to employees who have to do travel 
and other work for that particular agency. We have learned through a 
report by the inspector general in the U.S. Department of Commerce that 
these credit cards have been used not just for travel for governmental 
purposes but also for jewelry, for liquor, for online computer 
services, for a variety of things never contemplated for Federal 
employees to use, to be used in obtaining.
  What does this mean? It means that we have a credit card system in 
play that is being abused and is costing taxpayers money. We did not 
make this up. This came from an investigation of the inspector general. 
We have learned that some 500 of these accounts, credit card accounts, 
had been used for these extraneous purposes, to get extra cash at an 
ATM facility, to purchase jewelry and liquor. Was that contemplated by 
the taxpayers of the United States, to give carte blanche, a credit 
card to Federal employees to spend as they wish?
  Some would defend the system and say, well, we have a credit card 
system, that means faster service and less costly ticket buying, et 
cetera. But is it worth it when we have all these other abuses that we 
are discussing?

[[Page H1256]]

  Here is what the executive summary says from this audit report:

       Numerous employees have misused the government travel 
     charge card. Such abuses included excessive unpaid charges, 
     use of the card for personal purchases''--which I have just 
     mentioned--``and questionable automatic teller machine 
     advances. A primary reason for the abuse is a lack of 
     management and oversight by agencies.

  That is the key phrase that has prompted action on the part of some 
of us to try to end this drain on taxpayers' resources at a time when 
we are crying for tightening up the budget and making sure that we do 
not overspend or abuse the taxpayers' moneys in so many questionable 
ways.
  The other portion of the report that is astounding to me is that when 
some of this was brought to the attention of the agencies, like in the 
Office of the Secretary of Commerce, the coordinator, I quote: ``The 
coordinator in the Office of the Secretary gave us oral explanations 
for some of the questionable accounts but told us that because of other 
pressing duties, she did not have sufficient time to provide written 
explanations.''--meaning that nothing was effectively accomplished to 
curb these abuses, buying jewelry on credit cards?
  How does that help the Secretary of Commerce's jurisdiction exercise 
its duties? How does that help the taxpayers back in the homelands who 
are working hard every day to do their job and try to pay their taxes 
so that the Government can keep on buying jewelry with credit cards? 
This kind of explanation, if they do not have time to provide written 
explanations, has got to come forth in a series of hearings which we 
plan to hold on this very same subject.
  One other thing that is pertinent here that should be known, also 
coming directly from the inspector general's report, is that the blame 
for all of this goes on how these credit cards were issued, to whom 
they were issued, what instructions were given, what controls were put 
in, what arrangements were made with the credit card company to make 
sure that jewelry and online computer services and liquor could not be 
purchased on the retail level, those facets of control were never put 
into place.
  So what will these hearings have? I plan to hold one hearing or more 
if necessary in my Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to 
determine how they were issued, what controls were put on. I have 
introduced a bill, to start off with, to abolish the use of credit 
cards by Federal employees. We are going to start from there if we are 
successful and work back to see if any credit cards can be properly 
used.

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