Jason Chaffetz: “S. 300 puts commonsense controls on the users of government charge cards which allow Federal workers to purchase goods…”

“S. 300 puts commonsense controls on the users of government charge cards which allow Federal workers to purchase goods and to travel in a timely and cost-efficient manner. In any economy, but especially the one we're in now, there is no room for waste, much less fraud and abuse. These safeguards will make all users of Federal charge cards accountable for their use. While the use of charge cards has saved the Federal Government both time and money when compared to a paper reimbursement system, some Federal employees have abused their purchase and travel card privileges, resulting in unnecessary and sometimes fraudulent expenses. Numerous GAO reports over the last decade have called for additional controls to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the government charge card program. In 2008, GAO estimated that nearly 41 percent of purchase card transactions failed to meet basic internal control standards. Senator Grassley has put the spotlight on the problematic use of government charge cards for more than a decade, and the GAO has documented fraudulent purchases made by Federal workers with these cards, including jewelry, gambling, cruises, and even the tab at gentlemen's clubs. Government charge cards were used to pay for the infamous GSA 2010 Western Regional Conference. The Oversight Committee was able to work on a bipartisan basis with the Armed Services Committee to bring Senator Grassley's bill, S. 300, to the floor today.…”