[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. Manchin):
  S. 1792. A bill to close out expired, empty grant accounts; to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Grants 
Oversight and New Efficiency Act or the GONE Act. This legislation 
would require federal agencies to close out expired grant accounts with 
an empty balance.
  ``U.S. government spends $890,000 on nothing''--it sounds like a bad 
joke, but it is no laughing matter. The Washington Post recently 
reported, ``This year, the government will spend at least $890,000 on 
service fees for bank accounts that are empty. At last count, Uncle Sam 
has 13,712 such accounts with a balance of zero.''
  According to an official government report, the Government 
Accountability Office, GA0, reported last year that the Payment 
Management System, the largest civilian payment system for grants 
managed by the Department of Health and Services, was charged $173,000 
to maintain the Department of Health and Human Services' 28,000 expired 
grant accounts with a zero balance. Furthermore, the GAO estimates that 
if federal agencies were billed for the entire year, maintaining 
expired grant accounts with a zero balance for the entire year would 
cost $2 million in fees.
  To tackle this problem, I am introducing the GONE Act, a bill with a 
commonsense goal: to increase accountability. My legislation would 
require the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 
Efficiency to submit a report to Congress and the agency head including 
a list of each expired, empty grant account held by the Federal 
Government, recommend which grant accounts should be immediately 
closed, and for those grant accounts that have been expired for more 
than 90 days, to explain why it has not been closed out. It would also 
require the agency head to close out the expired, empty grant accounts 
and to update the Council on whether the grant accounts were closed. 
Additionally, the bill would require the Council to submit a follow-up 
report to Congress and the committees of jurisdiction on the status of 
grant accounts identified for closure.
  While the fees currently spent on expired grant accounts may seem 
like a drop in the bucket, it nonetheless proves there is plenty of fat 
to trim. At a time when our country faces serious fiscal challenges and 
a soaring $17 trillion national debt, these fiscal blunders are more 
than foolish--they are dangerously irresponsible. This example of 
government waste underscores the critical importance of proper 
congressional oversight of federal agencies and their funding.
  I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in 
supporting this simple, commonsense legislation to cut wasteful 
spending and help bring greater accountability to Washington.

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