Govt. Credit Card Abuse Should be Made Public, Lawmaker Says
Legislation requiring every govt. credit card bill to be posted online within 15 days of its use was introduced Thurs. by Rep. Poe (R-Tex.). Under the Govt. Credit Card Sunshine Act, records would be posted on agency Inspector Gen. (IG) websites and employees whose credit card abuse is more than $500 would face immediate dismissal, be forced to repay the bill, and in some cases, return the items purchased.
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Tattoos, lingerie, Ozzie Osbourne concert tickets, gambling, cruises, prostitutes and new cars were among the federal credit card purchases by govt. employees Poe cited. “This serious scandal is stealing and is unacceptable behavior,” Poe said, adding that he wants govt. employees held responsible for “ripping off America.” In a floor speech, the lawmaker advised those who seek to abuse a govt.-issued credit cards to “pack your toothbrush [because] you are out of here.”
The measure (HR-4089) dictates that the IG office responsible for posting the material online remove certain information from the bill, including the card account number and any information that personally identifies the purchaser. The secy. or agency head involved would be able to omit certain records if the spending relates to national security, according to the bill text.
In Poe’s “Dear Colleague” letter, the former felony court judge cites fallout from Hurricane Katrina as the impetus to the legislation. Congress spent more than $62 billion on the recovery and raised the credit limit on govt. credit cards to $250,000 from $15,000. “As we all know, there has been a lot of controversy on whether or not Congress could offset the costs of the Katrina relief bill,” he said: “While cutting pork and slowing the growth of government are 2 excellent options, Congress should also provide effective oversight on spending during these natural disasters.”
Citizens Against Govt. Waste Pres. Tom Schatz isn’t sure that posting credit card bills online is the right approach to govt. spending problems. “The real question is what’s the best way to prevent the abuse. The first line of defense is better management and better oversight in terms of what they're doing in agencies themselves,” he told us. Citing govt.’s “technological challenges,” scanning and uploading all the invoices could be an expensive and resource-draining task, Schatz said. “It’s worth a discussion about what should be done,” he said. But the punishment imposed by the bill sounds about right to Schatz. “As a former judge, [Poe] knows what kind of penalty would be sufficient to deter people from committing some kind of a crime.”
Putting staffers’ credit card statements online is the right kind of deterrent, said Project on Govt. Oversight Communications Dir. Beth Daley. If employees know their tabs are going to be posted on the Web, they'd be less likely to cheat, she said. “You'd think twice before buying something at Victoria’s Secret or using your card at the local brothel,” Daley said: “Sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
The Govt. Accountability Office (GAO) filed 2 reports on govt. purchase cards in recent years -- an April 2004 analysis on how increased management oversight could save hundreds of millions of dollars, and a report 2 years earlier that exposed how control weaknesses lead to fraud and abuse.
Govt. promotion of increased usage of credit cards for small and routine purchases dramatically increased the number of card accounts and spending, the GAO found last year. The use of a well-controlled purchase card program is a useful tool in streamlining the govt.’s acquisition processes and providing agencies flexibility to make minor buys. Strengthening controls and monitoring transaction activity could save Uncle Sam millions, the report said. GAO audited purchase card controls at the Defense Dept. at 4 civilian agencies.