Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1345, I call up the bill (H.R. 8464) to amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize pausing and segmenting payments, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, we are facing a national emergency of fraud in Federal programs that is impacting every American.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Government is estimated to lose between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud across all Federal programs and operations.

Earlier this week, we exposed how criminals stole $9 billion in Minnesota's social services programs while senior State officials, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, did absolutely nothing to stop it.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Whether in Minnesota, California's hospice system, or Medicaid waiver programs in Ohio or New York, one thing is clear: Fraudsters will keep stealing taxpayer dollars until they are stopped.

Taxpayers bear the burden, while vulnerable Americans, the very people these programs are meant to help, are harmed.

The Trump administration has taken decisive action to combat waste, fraud, and abuse by establishing the White House Task Force to eliminate fraud.

Just this week, Vice President Vance referred our findings on Minnesota's rampant fraud to the Department of Justice for investigation.

Congress must take further action to stop fraud before it happens.

The Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act adds critical safeguards to ensure Federal payments go to the right recipient in the right amount before funds are awarded or disbursed.

Federal law currently lacks a governmentwide requirement to verify payments and prevent fraud across Federal financial assistance and public benefit programs.

Even when payments show elevated fraud risks, the Treasury Department cannot stop it. It is required to process the payments agencies request.

Under current law, agencies can issue payments despite flags received from Treasury's Do Not Pay system or other tools that might indicate an elevated risk of fraud.

H.R. 8464 addresses the status quo by requiring agencies to conduct fraud prevention activities prior to issuing payment requests. The bill gives Treasury the authority to halt and return payments flagged for fraud risk so agencies can review and correct them before issued.

Agencies would be required to quickly review and resolve payments flagged for elevated risk of fraud unless otherwise mandated by law.

This provides additional assurance to the American taxpayer that money is being paid to the right recipient and for the right amount while preserving the ownership of a program's administration within the appropriate Federal agency as authorized by law.

This bill also helps agencies and the American public understand when a legitimate recipient's identity is being stolen and used for fraudulent activities by criminals.

Lastly, to help Congress oversee progress made in addressing payments with elevated fraud risk, Treasury will summarize the number of returned payments, corrective outcome, and associated cost savings achieved under the requirements of this bill. This ensures Congress has regular oversight of these reforms.

The commonsense reforms outlined in this bill will protect taxpayer dollars from being stolen by fraudsters while maintaining the integrity of Federal programs.

Madam Speaker, I call on each of my House colleagues to support H.R. 8464 to protect taxpayer dollars from falling into the hands of criminals and fraudsters.

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, let me translate that 5 minutes of gibberish from my colleague.

They don't care about fraud. When you do find fraud, like we found in Minnesota and California, they don't want to cut off the money. They want the money to keep going so the fraudsters can stay in business. That is why we have to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. Boebert).
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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I know only 4 percent of government agencies are utilizing the Do Not Pay list, which--

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the gentleman eloquently described the Democrat-in- Washington solution to every problem. Whether it is fraud prevention or whatever, it is to hire more government employees and create a bigger government bureaucracy.

This bill that we are debating today keeps the decision of whether or not to hold a payment with the agency. The agency ultimately interprets the results of Do Not Pay.

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers.

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, these bills we have debated today, H.R. 8312 and H.R. 8464, should be considered in the broader context of the committee's legislative work on fraud prevention and financial integrity reforms.

This week, the House has advanced eight bipartisan fraud and program integrity reform bills that we originally passed out of the Oversight Committee that will safeguard taxpayer dollars from fraudsters and cheats.

Collectively, with the bills advanced in the House this week, the Oversight Committee is preventing fraudulent payments from going out the door, equipping the Federal workforce to fight fraud, protecting taxpayer dollars during national emergencies, reforming agency financial leadership roles to improve agency financial performance, and launching sweeping oversight work at the Government Accountability Office over State administration of federally funded programs.

These governmentwide fraud prevention reforms are long overdue. They will safeguard our constituents' tax dollars and ensure Federal programs deliver for citizens who need them the most, as Congress intended.

We must continue to advance bold reforms that meaningfully address fraud, and I am proud to say these bills brought before the House this week by the Oversight Committee take a meaningful step toward better stewardship of taxpayer dollars by protecting them from fraud.

Madam Speaker, I urge each of my House colleagues to join us in supporting H.R. 8464 as we work to protect the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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