[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 27, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H7176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CONFLICTS OF INTEREST LEAD TO A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE

  (Ms. PORTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, conflicts of interest lead to a crisis of 
confidence.
  Government officials shouldn't be able to use their Federal 
contracting authority to line their own pockets. Pentagon officials 
owning stock in big defense contractors not only invites waste and 
abuse, it causes Americans to doubt whether the Department of Defense 
always spends taxpayer dollars in the public interest.
  I am proud that the House passed my proposal to ban Pentagon 
officials from owning stock in companies that receive over $1 billion 
in defense contracts.
  This safeguard will better protect the hundreds of billions of 
taxpayer dollars we send to the Pentagon each year. It will help 
prevent sweetheart deals for big defense contractors, and it will 
reduce the self-dealing that erodes trust in our government and 
undermines national security.
  Americans deserve confidence that their government is working for 
them.

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