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Chairman Johnson Applauds Passage of Bill Supporting Government Watchdog

Statement

Date: Jan. 17, 2017
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations Government Budget and Spending

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had this to say following the passage of H.R. 72, the GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017, which enhances the Government Accountability Office's ability to audit federal entitlement spending for fraud. The bill gives the GAO, a watchdog agency, access to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), a government database that tracks employment. The Department of Health and Human Services had previously denied the GAO access to the data.

"This legislation empowers the top federal watchdog to do what it was created to do: hold the federal government accountable," said Johnson. "This bill provides the GAO with the information it needs to audit federal entitlement programs to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on those that do not qualify, either through fraud or error."


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