Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Government Transparency and Recordkeeping Act along with Senator Vitter. The purpose of this bill is to require that all records of individual payments under 31 U.S.C. 1304, which is the Judgment Fund, are reported to Congress and made available to the public. It further requires that agencies provide this information by keeping accurate and thorough records. Simply put, most Americans have a checking account. When you write a check, you also record it in your checking book. This checking book is your record of how much you paid and to whom you paid. Simply put, the Federal Government does not do this in terms of the Judgment Fund. The Federal government has not been keeping track of its Judgment Fund payments because they are not required to do so. In this age of technology, shouldn't the federal government keep track of its finances? If the Federal Government is named as a defendant and the plaintiffs are successful then the plaintiffs may be awarded for certain attorney fees and costs. Such payments are made from the Judgment Fund. The Judgment Fund was created in 1956 and is a permanent fund available to pay judgments against the government and settlements resulting from lawsuits. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I had to request that GAO investigate how much the Judgment Fund has paid related to the environmental statutes in our jurisdiction and get back to me.…”