Deborah Koff Ross: “I should have provided the gentleman a copy. There is good news. You mentioned the 19 of 24 Federal agencies could not…”

“I should have provided the gentleman a copy. There is good news. You mentioned the 19 of 24 Federal agencies could not produce a clean audit. That number has actually changed. There is good news. The General Accountability Office now reports that 18, not 19, 18 of 24 Federal agencies have such bad financial systems that they do not even know the true cost of running some of their programs. Yet, as we know, Republican leaders in Congress did not force these agencies to fully account for how the money was being spent before doling out billions more in taxpayer dollars to the same programs. In the Blue Dog Coalition, we have a bill to deal with that. We have a bill to deal with accountability. We have a bill that says if, Mr. Secretary, if your Federal agency cannot produce a clean audit, you should go back to the Senate for reconfirmation hearings. We are trying to get to the root of this problem by passing legislation that requires accountability, accountability within our government. I yield back to the gentleman.”