Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank Mr. Walker for introducing this well-thought-out bill and very important bill. I support this bill, which would increase the transparency and accountability of Federal agencies. The bill would require agencies to include in their budget justifications to Congress a summary of the recommendations made by GAO or the agency's inspector general. Agencies would also be required to explain what steps they are taking to address these recommendations or, if they disagree with them, why they disagree. GAO and inspectors general provide critical oversight of the executive branch. Knowing what agencies are doing or not doing to address GAO and IG recommendations will assist Congress in conducting its constitutional oversight role. This is, indeed, a commonsense measure that I strongly support. I just want to urge the House to pass this bill. One of the things that has concerned many of us in the Congress is the issue of accountability. Accountability is so very, very important. We all have a tremendous amount of respect for the inspectors general and for GAO. Over and over again, they make recommendations, and the question becomes: Whatever happens to those recommendations? Are they placed on a shelf and never to be seen again, or are they put into place?…”