[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 109 (Thursday, July 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. Vitter):
  S. 3415. A bill to require the disclosure of all payments made under 
the Equal Access to Justice Act; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Government 
Transparency and Recordkeeping Act along with Senator Vitter.
  The purpose of this bill is to require that all records of individual 
payments under 31 U.S.C. 1304, which is the Judgment Fund, are reported 
to Congress and made available to the public. It further requires that 
agencies provide this information by keeping accurate and thorough 
records.
  Simply put, most Americans have a checking account. When you write a 
check, you also record it in your checking book. This checking book is 
your record of how much you paid and to whom you paid. Simply put, the 
Federal Government does not do this in terms of the Judgment Fund. The 
Federal government has not been keeping track of its Judgment Fund 
payments because they are not required to do so. In this age of 
technology, shouldn't the federal government keep track of its 
finances?
  If the Federal Government is named as a defendant and the plaintiffs 
are successful then the plaintiffs may be awarded for certain attorney 
fees and costs. Such payments are made from the Judgment Fund.
  The Judgment Fund was created in 1956 and is a permanent fund 
available to pay judgments against the government and settlements 
resulting from lawsuits.
  As the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works 
Committee, I had to request that GAO investigate how much the Judgment 
Fund has paid related to the environmental statutes in our jurisdiction 
and get back to me. Even GAO had trouble getting complete records over 
the past ten years. This is federal taxpayers' money that we are 
spending without keeping accurate and up to date records. This 
information needs to be readily available and accessible to the public.
  Federal agencies that are impacted by these costs as well as 
policymakers and taxpayers should be able to track payments from the 
Judgment Fund to determine who is suing a particular Federal agency, 
the nature of their claims, how often agencies settle and agree to pay 
plaintiffs' legal fees, and so forth. If Congress and the public had 
access to this information in a useable form, they could identify 
problem areas and work to save taxpayer money by bringing loss rates 
down.
  Article I, section 9 of the U.S. Constitution provides ``that a 
regular Statement and Account of the Receipts of all public money shall 
be published from time to time.'' The operation and payment of Judgment 
fund monies should not be an exception. This bill will ensure that 
Congress and the public have access to such information.

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