[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 17, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S6523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. COBURN (for himself, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Grassley, Mr. 
        Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Paul, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
        Chambliss, Mr. Heller, Mrs. McCaskill, and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 1510. A bill to provide for auditable financial statements for the 
Department of Defense, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Armed Services.
  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, this bill, the Audit the Pentagon Act of 
2013, sharpens the teeth of the appropriations and accountability 
clause in the Constitution, article I, section 9, clause 7, which says:

       No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in 
     Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular 
     Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all 
     public Money shall be published from time to time.

  The intent of this clause is simple: Congress cannot possibly know 
that the executive branch is obeying the first part of the 
appropriations clause--spending--of the Constitution without confidence 
in the second--accountability. The decades-long failure by the Pentagon 
to comply with existing Federal financial management laws is against 
the very spirit of the Constitution--our Founding Fathers demanded that 
those spending taxpayer dollars are accountable to taxpayers.
  The Pentagon's financial management problems are intimately related 
to the problems of waste at the Pentagon and the budget crisis that has 
created sequestration. Currently, neither Pentagon leaders, nor 
Congressional members can consistently and reliably identify what our 
defense programs cost, will cost in the future, or even what they 
really cost in the past. When the Pentagon doesn't know itself and 
can't tell Congress how it is spending money, good programs face cuts 
along with wasteful programs, which is the situation in which we find 
ourselves today under sequestration. Unreliable financial management 
information makes it impossible to link the consequences of past 
decisions to the defense budget or to measure whether the activities of 
the Defense Department are meeting the military requirements set for 
it. Passing a financial audit is a critical step that will protect 
vital priorities and help the Pentagon comply with current law and our 
Constitution.
  The problem is clear: if the Pentagon doesn't know how it spends its 
money, Congress doesn't really know how DOD is spending its money. This 
incomprehensible condition has been documented in hundreds of reports 
over three decades from both the Government Accountability Office, GAO, 
and the Department's own inspector general (DOD IG).
  Our current Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel knows that this is a 
problem. In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee he said 
that the Pentagon needs ``auditable statements, both to improve the 
quality of our financial information and to reassure the public, and 
the Congress, that we are good stewards of public funds.'' Secretary 
Hagel agrees that the Pentagon must audit the Pentagon and says, ``Our 
next goal is audit-ready budget statements by the end of 2014 . . . I 
strongly support this initiative and will do everything I can to 
fulfill this commitment.''
  For far too long, Congress has abdicated its constitutional role and 
its duty to the taxpayers by choosing not to hold DOD accountable for 
the deadlines it sets for itself, and the result has been continued 
missed deadlines and wasteful, non-value added spending. Past efforts 
to make the Pentagon comply with the law by passing additional laws 
with no teeth has not worked--the Pentagon simply ignores the laws 
because it suffers no consequences. The result is that unlike every 
other major Federal department, the Pentagon continues to fail at their 
requirement and responsibility to report to Congress and the American 
people that it can show where the hundreds of billions of dollars of 
taxpayer money goes. I hope my fellow Senators will join me in 
supporting this bill for auditable financial statements.
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