The Hill News

Our government works better and costs less when under the critical eye of constructive oversight. As Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations, I held 65 hearings on a range of domestic and national security issues and commissioned over 30 investigations and reports that exposed millions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.

From revealing contractors in Afghanistan paying off the Taliban with taxpayer dollars, to uncovering issues related to prescription drug pricing and shameless scams targeting the nation’s veterans, I am well aware that vigilant oversight is needed during wartime situations overseas and close to home as well.

The importance of such oversight was most recently highlighted by the news that in 2010, the General Services Administration (GSA) spent $800,000 on a conference for just 300 attendees. Sadly, as we are now learning, this culture of waste! at GSA dates back at least to 2006. This incident comes on the heels of an inspector general report initiated by myself and others finding that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used money confiscated from fishermen to buy a $300,000 luxury boat, intended for undercover operations, but used by its agents as a "party boat."

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