Chuck Grassley: “every so often, I come to the Senate floor to bring my colleagues up to date on the lack of financial management system…”

“every so often, I come to the Senate floor to bring my colleagues up to date on the lack of financial management system in the Department of Defense. I am here again to address what I consider a festering bureaucratic sore. The Pentagon can't keep track of the taxpayers' money. And as I just indicated, I speak about this many times. In 30 years of watchdogging, little or nothing has happened. Internal controls over the taxpayers' money remain weak or nonexistent at the Department of Defense. And I am here today to speak specifically about a recent inspector general's audit, driving home that point. Specifically, auditors discovered $1.1 billion in undocumented payments by the Pentagon using funds Congress provided to assist Ukraine. They examined 479 transactions for the calendar year 2022, totaling $2.1 billion dollars. The auditors determined that 65 percent of the transactions could not be verified for a lack of documentation. If the sample were doubled in size, the inspector general estimated a staggering 94 percent would be unsupported. Now, we all agree that is unacceptable; or if we don't agree that that is unacceptable, there is something wrong with our thinking. The rules are crystal clear. Supporting documentation is required when paying bills. Proper documentary support should include a contract, travel authorization, invoice, receipts, payment voucher, or things like that.…”