Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 788, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2023.

This act is one step in the reform process to return spending power back to the hands of Congress and ensure the proper use of every dollar that comes into the Treasury.

This bill would help to ensure the damages owed to victims of wrongdoing actually reach them rather than being used to support organizations that are friends of the executive branch, regardless of the party.

For those who don't know, settlement slush funds result when defendants settle with government agencies and, based on the terms of that settlement, direct the settlement proceeds to politically favored third parties instead of victims or the U.S. Treasury for use in correcting the actual wrongdoing.

In these cases, the victims often have little to no say in how the settlement will be structured and certainly have no redress when the government directs these monetary settlements elsewhere.

In the past, these types of settlements have been used to support the pet projects of prior administrations or the friends of prior administrations, and this is simply unacceptable.

Settlement funds should go to the victims and to remedy the actual harm created by these wrongdoers, not to help and support friends of the current administration--again, regardless of which party is in power.

Reform is needed to end this practice, and Congress should enact H.R. 788, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2023, immediately because not only do we see that these funds are redirected in inappropriate ways but these settlements amount to a form of executive branch spending that has not been approved or even reviewed by Congress.

Accordingly, these settlement slush funds undermine congressional oversight, agency accountability, and the power of the purse. The responsibility of the power of the purse falls solely on Congress, and we should have the authority to direct the funding of these settlement agreements, not the executive branch's special interests.

Moreover, money from settlements with companies and individuals should benefit the harmed and remedy the underlying actual wrongdoing. Those funds should not be redirected to nonprofits supporting the political agendas of the administration.

Let's stop this practice today. We can do it if we pass this bill. Let us pass the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2023.

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