GONE Act

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act or the GONE Act. This legislation would require federal agencies to close out expired grant accounts with an empty balance.

``U.S. government spends $890,000 on nothing''--it sounds like a bad joke, but it is no laughing matter. The Washington Post recently reported, ``This year, the government will spend at least $890,000 on service fees for bank accounts that are empty. At last count, Uncle Sam has 13,712 such accounts with a balance of zero.''

According to an official government report, the Government Accountability Office, GA0, reported last year that the Payment Management System, the largest civilian payment system for grants managed by the Department of Health and Services, was charged $173,000 to maintain the Department of Health and Human Services' 28,000 expired grant accounts with a zero balance. Furthermore, the GAO estimates that if federal agencies were billed for the entire year, maintaining expired grant accounts with a zero balance for the entire year would cost $2 million in fees.

To tackle this problem, I am introducing the GONE Act, a bill with a commonsense goal: to increase accountability. My legislation would require the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to submit a report to Congress and the agency head including a list of each expired, empty grant account held by the Federal Government, recommend which grant accounts should be immediately closed, and for those grant accounts that have been expired for more than 90 days, to explain why it has not been closed out. It would also require the agency head to close out the expired, empty grant accounts and to update the Council on whether the grant accounts were closed. Additionally, the bill would require the Council to submit a follow-up report to Congress and the committees of jurisdiction on the status of grant accounts identified for closure.

While the fees currently spent on expired grant accounts may seem like a drop in the bucket, it nonetheless proves there is plenty of fat to trim. At a time when our country faces serious fiscal challenges and a soaring $17 trillion national debt, these fiscal blunders are more than foolish--they are dangerously irresponsible. This example of government waste underscores the critical importance of proper congressional oversight of federal agencies and their funding.

I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in supporting this simple, commonsense legislation to cut wasteful spending and help bring greater accountability to Washington.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act or the GONE Act. This legislation would require federal agencies to close out expired grant accounts with an empty balance.

``U.S. government spends $890,000 on nothing''--it sounds like a bad joke, but it is no laughing matter. The Washington Post recently reported, ``This year, the government will spend at least $890,000 on service fees for bank accounts that are empty. At last count, Uncle Sam has 13,712 such accounts with a balance of zero.''

According to an official government report, the Government Accountability Office, GA0, reported last year that the Payment Management System, the largest civilian payment system for grants managed by the Department of Health and Services, was charged $173,000 to maintain the Department of Health and Human Services' 28,000 expired grant accounts with a zero balance. Furthermore, the GAO estimates that if federal agencies were billed for the entire year, maintaining expired grant accounts with a zero balance for the entire year would cost $2 million in fees.

To tackle this problem, I am introducing the GONE Act, a bill with a commonsense goal: to increase accountability. My legislation would require the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to submit a report to Congress and the agency head including a list of each expired, empty grant account held by the Federal Government, recommend which grant accounts should be immediately closed, and for those grant accounts that have been expired for more than 90 days, to explain why it has not been closed out. It would also require the agency head to close out the expired, empty grant accounts and to update the Council on whether the grant accounts were closed. Additionally, the bill would require the Council to submit a follow-up report to Congress and the committees of jurisdiction on the status of grant accounts identified for closure.

While the fees currently spent on expired grant accounts may seem like a drop in the bucket, it nonetheless proves there is plenty of fat to trim. At a time when our country faces serious fiscal challenges and a soaring $17 trillion national debt, these fiscal blunders are more than foolish--they are dangerously irresponsible. This example of government waste underscores the critical importance of proper congressional oversight of federal agencies and their funding.

I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in supporting this simple, commonsense legislation to cut wasteful spending and help bring greater accountability to Washington.