Letter to the Hon. Elaine Chao, Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation - LOST IN TRANSPORTATION: Rep. Hill Awards Golden Fleece to DOT for Losing Nearly $3 Million in Laptops

Letter

Dear Secretary Chao:

I write today to inform you that your agency is the most recent recipient of my Golden Fleece Award. I am awarding the Golden Fleece to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) because it could not account for an estimated 34.3 percent of laptops purchased between 2013 and 2017.

According to a recent DOT Office of Inspector General (OIG) report DOT purchased 5,448 laptops between n FY 2013 to 2017 at a cost of approximately $8.6 million. Further, the OIG report states, "[the OIG] estimate[s] that DOT could not account for 1,870 or 34.3 percent of the 5,448 laptops in the universe. This represents $2.9 million in funds that could have been put to better use (33.8 percent of the $8.6 million in the universe)." Our government agencies must ensure proper controls are in place so equipment purchased with taxpayer funds does not go unaccounted for.

When our nation is more than $23 trillion in debt, our federal agencies must be good stewards of taxpayers' dollars. Should you require any additional authority from Congress to address these concerns, I urge you to notify us as soon as possible. I thank you for your consideration and look forward to working with you to address this important issue.

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