Press Release - Justice Department Says $1.3 Billion Recovered this Year Because of Grassley-Authored Legislation

Press Release - Justice Department Says $1.3 Billion Recovered this Year Because of Grassley-Authored Legislation

The Justice Department announced this week that another $1.3 billion has been recovered for the U.S. Treasury thanks to whistleblower legislation sponsored in 1986 by Sen. Chuck Grassley. The total amount recovered through these provisions is now $18 billion.

The amendments Grassley championed 20 years ago along with Rep. Howard Berman of California strengthened the Civil War-era False Claims Act which was originally signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. The Grassley-Berman "qui tam" amendments empowered whistleblowers to file suit on behalf of the United States against those who fraudulently claim federal funds, including Medicare, Medicaid, contract payments, disaster assistance and other benefits, subsidies, grants and loans.

Grassley said that amendments to the False Claims Act have empowered whistleblowers to help fight fraud against the government. Fraudulent claims by defense contractors during the 1980s prompted the initiative. Today the "qui tam" amendments also recoup billions that would otherwise be lost to health care fraud.

The Justice Department said today that during the last year, the federal Treasury reclaimed $3.1 billion in settlements and judgments overall under the False Claims Act. Of that $3.1 billion, $1.3 billion was associated with lawsuits initiated by whistleblowers.

"President Abraham Lincoln signed the original False Claims Act into law in 1863 to keep profiteers from bilking the Union Army," Grassley said. "Today, individual citizens are making the same kind of important difference in exposing fraud by those who do business with the government. This law is one of the most powerful tools we have in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. As these recoveries show, the False Claims Act has worked in the past, it works in the present, and will continue to protect taxpayer dollars long into the future."

Grassley recently authored a provision that created an incentive for states to encourage whistleblowers to help recover tax dollars that would otherwise be lost to fraud based on the tremendous success of the federal law. The provision was included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which was signed into law in January 2006.

http://grassley.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=5218&Month=11&Year=2006