Walter B. Jones: “during the Memorial Day break, I happened to be listening to a talk show out of Raleigh, North Carolina called WPTF and…”

“during the Memorial Day break, I happened to be listening to a talk show out of Raleigh, North Carolina called WPTF and the host is Jerry Agar. When Mr. Agar said that the New York Post had reported that the national government, the Federal Government had lost $17.3 billion, it kind of got my attention. So by phone, because I was in my car, I called my staff and I said, please get me a copy of the New York Post. I cannot believe what Jerry Agar was saying, even though I have been on his show and I think he is a very, very credible talk show host. Sure enough, we got a copy of the New York Post and the article says, ``Washington complains about deceptive corporate accounting, but the government last year misplaced an incredible $17.3 billion because of shoddy bookkeeping, or worse.'' Then, to add to that embarrassment that we cannot keep our books straight here in Washington, D.C., the London Times, May 29, has an article that says, ``As accounting errors go, it is a whopper. The U.S. Treasury has admitted that it has `lost' $17.3 billion,'' and they equate that in pounds to $11.7 billion, ``because of shoddy bookkeeping, enough to buy a fleet of 8 B-2 stealth bombers and still have change for jet fuel.''”