Transparency and Accountability in State and Local Contracting Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2182) to amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to provide for enhanced State and local oversight of activities conducted pursuant to such Act, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 2182, the Enhanced Oversight of State and Local Economic Recovery Act. H.R. 2182 will help ensure efficient and effective use of the taxpayers' money provided to State and local governments for stimulus projects. This legislation grew out of a hearing the Oversight Committee held on the Recovery Act. Many State and local officials responsible for overseeing spending of stimulus dollars pointed out to us that in these troubled economic times, they are under tremendous pressure to conduct their normal oversight work, let alone cope with the increase that the Recovery Act requires.

Our hearings, Mr. Speaker, made clear, that State and local governments need additional resources to monitor the large infusion of funds the Recovery Act directs. H.R. 2182 will provide State and local governments with the flexibility to set aside a portion of their stimulus funds for auditing, contract and grant planning and management, and investigations of waste, fraud and abuse.

The bill also permits State and local governments to use the Federal supply schedules of the General Services Administration for stimulus projects. The GSA schedules are prenegotiated Federal contracts for a range of common goods and services.

This is a win-win situation because it will allow State and local governments to acquire certain items without engaging in time-consuming contracting procedures while guaranteeing the lowest rate price for them.

Lastly, H.R. 2182 requires the Office of Management and Budget to give detailed guidance to State and local governments to ensure consistency in their reporting of job creation data. Our State and local governments are on the front lines of the efforts to fight mismanagement of Recovery Act dollars. Their success is vital to making the stimulus work for the American people.

Let me pause here and thank Ranking Member Issa, who has worked very closely with me in crafting this legislation, and I want to thank him for that. I would also like to thank Representative Kucinich, who has worked with us, Representative Platts, and Representatives Welch and Connolly for working with me on this bill.

I should note that the legislation incorporates part of H.R. 1911, which was introduced by Representative Connolly from Virginia. H.R. 2182 is a strong bill. I urge all Members to support this critical oversight and accountability measure.

And I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to reiterate my strong support of H.R. 2182 as it provides State and local governments with the flexibility and resources they need to properly monitor the stimulus project. In our hearing, they asked for help, and of course, with Congressman Issa and with members of the committee, we are now giving them that help. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the passage of this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I join with the chairman in urging all Members to vote for this important correction piece of legislation. I say ``correction'' because, in fact, we in Congress make mistakes. It wasn't out of malice that we spent $800 billion without asking the question of where would the money for oversight come from. These kinds of things happen in every organization where you're in such a rush to do one thing that it's not until later on in the light of the next day, or in the case of Chairman Towns and myself, it's when we held a field hearing in his district in Brooklyn

and people said, Thank you very much for the money, but here is A, B, C, D--what's really happening? I commend Chairman Towns for quickly reacting to this and to some other issues that were found to be less than optimal in the stimulus package.

In the case of this legislation, H.R. 2182, we seek to empower with existing funds State and local governments to not have to reach into other money in order to do oversight. This is not to say that we wouldn't prefer that the oversight be done at all times even without Federal money, but at a time in which the stimulus needs to be spent quickly and accurately, this legislation recognizes that money in short supply in States and in cities is likely not to go into the oversight necessary.

Particularly with the chairman's initiative to ensure that transparency be greater than in any previous Congress, I recognize--and he has recognized--that if we want greater transparency, we are going to have to ensure that we not only supply the funds to do the oversight but that we supply the new technology and means to do the oversight. This legislation is deliberately intended to allow for cities and States to make investments in hardware or software that allows for them to better dig down into their procurement process, their spending, to work smarter, not just harder.

Having no other speakers at this time, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my colleagues for favorable consideration of H.R. 2182, the Enhanced Oversight of State and Local Economic Recovery Act. I was pleased to cosponsor this legislation, which was introduced by the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

At a hearing of that committee, we learned that dedicated oversight funding for State and local governments could improve oversight of money appropriated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Subsequently, I introduced legislation, H.R. 1911, which would provide for that oversight funding within the Recovery Act.

H.R. 2182 incorporates the objectives of that bill and will provide additional certainty that money spent through the economic stimulus is spent wisely. This local and State funding represents some of the most important stimulus funding, because it is protecting the jobs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, as well as essential human services, across the country.

I commend Chairman Towns for his leadership and commend my colleagues for the passage of H.R. 2182.