Barbara Lee: Audit the Defense Department to Prevent Waste, Fraud and Abuse
Media Contact: Joel Payne, (202) 225- 2661
Washington, DC- Today, Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) offered an amendment to the Continuing Resolution on the Budget to freeze Department of Defense programs at Fiscal Year 2010 levels unless its financial statements are validated as ready for audit within six months. Below is a statement from Representative Lee on the importance of this issue:
“Nearly sixty cents of every federal discretionary dollar now goes toward defense spending, and by the Pentagon’s own admission, they cannot properly account for how the money is spent!
“In the past year alone, investigations into Department of Defense activities in Iraq and Afghanistan have revealed billions of dollars in wasted, diverted, or simply missing funds.
“I find it unacceptable that we cannot receive an answer to a basic question- Where are our defense dollars going?
“It is time to finally do away with a culture of unlimited spending and no accountability at the Pentagon.
“As some in Congress call for draconian cuts to vital domestic investments and services under the pretense of fiscal responsibility, it is unconscionable to single out the Pentagon for a funding increase.
“It is deeply disturbing that my Republican colleagues would strike down this important amendment and further delay the financial reforms that are necessary to bring the Department of Defense’s financial house into order.
“I am committed to addressing this issue in the 112th Congress and look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure the responsible use and accounting of federal dollars at the Department of Defense.”
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