Congresswoman Lee Leads Bipartisan Coalition to Ensure Transparency and Accountability at the Pentagon
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee was joined by Congressman Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in introducing the bipartisan Audit the Pentagon Act of 2015.
With the passage of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, all government agencies were supposed to achieve audit-readiness. Twenty-five years later, the Pentagon remains unauditable.
The legislation would impose a small penalty on Pentagon accounting units that are not auditable. The bill exempts accounts related to personnel and those deemed critical to national security by the Secretary of Defense.
“Unauditable is unacceptable. It has been more than two decade since the Pentagon was required to undergo an audit and the Pentagon is still reporting that audit-readiness is five years off. We need to bring immediate accountability to the Pentagon and prevent further waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” said Congresswoman Lee. “We need greater sunlight and transparency so the American people know how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent.”
“The Pentagon is the only federal agency that has never been audited,” Burgess said. “Our government is only as strong as the oversight we give it. Auditing the Pentagon is vital to allow it to continue to function at a high level. This bill ensures that efficiency remains a top priority for what is arguably one of the most important functions of our government: a powerful and well-run military.”
“The Department of Defense consistently struggles to properly account for Americans’ tax dollars. Taxpayers deserve better. Americans should know how their money is being spent, and that is why I am pleased to join Representatives Lee and Burgess in introducing the Audit the Pentagon Act,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “This bipartisan legislation will take important steps to ensure the Pentagon’s budget process is more transparent and accountable.”
This legislation has received broad bipartisan support from good government and transparency groups.
"Every taxpayer and business must be able to pass an audit on taxes paid into the government. Likewise, the law says every federal agency must pass an audit on money the government spends out. But only the Pentagon is 20 years overdue on delivering a clean audit. The Lee-Burgess bill would help end this double standard," said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.
"Citizens would be more skeptical about new wars if the Pentagon obeyed the law and passed a financial audit, just like every other major federal agency. The Lee-Burgess bill would push the Pentagon to obey the law," said Paul Kawika Martin, Political Director of Peace Action, a grassroots anti-war group.
"The Lee-Burgess approach is smart because it treats each part of the Pentagon separately, so each service and defense agency has an incentive to get its books in order. That's healthy interservice rivalry," said Rafael DeGennaro, Director of the Audit the Pentagon Coalition.
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. She serves as chair of the Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.