Good
afternoon
-
With
each
Iowan
shouldering more
than $61,000
of
our
national
debt,
we
need
to
know
where
our
tax
dollars
are
going,
which
is
why
I
give
out
the
Squeal
Award
once
a
month
to
highlight
misuse
of
federal
funds,
and
this
month,
I’m
calling
for a
federal
agency
to
come
clean.
Squeal
Award:
Auditing
the
Department
of
Defense
In
1990, legislation was
signed
into
law
which mandated
that
all
federal
agencies
and
departments
complete
an
audit.
Clean
audits
are
good
practice,
as
they
ensure
that
taxpayer
dollars
are
being
used efficiently
and
protect
against
fraud,
waste,
and
abuse.
For
25
years
and
throughout
several
presidential
administrations
all
agencies
have
complied
with
this
commonsense
congressional
oversight
process,
except
for
one.
The
Department
of
Defense
(DOD)
is
the
only
agency
yet
to
complete
the
mandated
audit
and
comply
with
federal
law.
As
threats
abroad
grow,
and
Congress
aims
to
provide
much
needed
resources
to
DOD
for
our
national
security,
a
clean
audit
is
more
important
than
ever
to
show
the
American
people
that
it's
using
taxpayer
dollars
effectively.
If
an
individual
or
private
company
failed
to
comply
with
an
audit,
they
would
find
themselves
in
some
pretty
hot
water
with
the
Internal
Revenue
Service
(IRS),
which
begs
the
question:
Why
are
we
not
holding
the
DOD
to
the
same
standard?
With
the
federal
debt
approaching $20
trillion,
it
is
critical
that
the
DOD conduct
this
audit.
Their
decades-long
inability
to
produce
the
necessary
documents
for
a
clean
audit
is
not
only
concerning, but
it
puts
our
national
security
at
risk.
Earlier
this
month,
I led
a
bipartisan
letter
to
Secretary
of
Defense
James
Mattis
to
call
on
the
department
to
work
with
Congress
to
complete
this
long-overdue
audit
and
meet
the
upcoming
deadline
set
by
the
Fiscal
Year
2010
National
Defense
Authorization
Act
of
September
30,
2017.
I
will
be
closely
watching
the
DOD’s
plan
to complete
this
task
and
will
continue
to
hold federal
agencies
accountable
to
ensure
your
hard
earned
dollars
are protected.
Due
to the failure
to
comply
with
mandated
audits,
I
hereby
present
this
month's Squeal
Award
to
the decades-old
negligence
at
the
Department
of
Defense.
Do
you
have
an
example
of
government
waste
or
inefficiencies
that
I
should
take
a
look
at?
Send
me
an
email
by clicking
here.
Thank
you!
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