[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRESS SHOULD OVERHAUL U.S. DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES WITH POOR 
                          FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today I had the opportunity to do 
something that millions of Americans would love to do: I asked the 
Internal Revenue Service to account for the use of its taxpayer 
dollars.
  Representing the Committee on Government Reform at the Joint 
Committee on Taxation's annual review of the Internal Revenue Service, 
I took part in what is an absolutely essential function of Congress: 
oversight and reform.
  Too often, both Members of Congress and voters forget that this body 
is not here just to pass new laws and spend more money. We are here to 
review and to reform the programs that we have already created and the 
money that we have already spent on those programs.
  In 2001, the Federal Government could not account for $17.3 billion, 
according to the Treasury Department. That is 17.3 billion taxpayer 
dollars.
  The U.S. General Accounting Office, the GAO, has refused to certify 
the Federal Government's own accounting books because the bookkeeping 
is so poor, and 21 of the 26 departments and major agencies received 
the lowest rating possible for their financial management, meaning that 
auditors cannot even express an opinion on their financial statements.
  Clearly, we are talking about significant sums of money. I think many 
of my colleagues would agree that when it comes to hard-earned taxpayer 
dollars, there is no such thing as insignificant waste. Congress must 
live up to its obligation to provide stronger financial management 
oversight for Federal programs that are costing us billions of dollars, 
and that is billions with a B, every single year.
  I know that the Committee on Government Reform and Congress are 
committed to reducing waste, fraud and abuse of current programs. More 
importantly, we should take the time and effort not just to chase after 
losses, but to overhaul a system that allows so much waste, fraud and 
abuse to exist.

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