Blog: House Passes Major Spending Transparency Bill

Statement

Too often, information about how the federal government spends your taxpayer dollars is inaccurate, inconsistent or incomplete. To rein in spending and hold government accountable, reform is necessary.

Government agencies often avoid scrutiny of their spending because the information is not maintained in an easily readable and publically searchable database. The information is instead in silos of spending within agencies and departments. Often, even the government has difficulty tracking how your taxpayer dollars are spent.

My bill, the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) will open the government and its spending information to you and the rest of the American people. By establishing government-wide standards for reporting of federal spending and making it available for citizen watchdogs to review, a more accountable government will be in the hands of the people.

This week, the House passed my bill by an overwhelming margin of 388-1. The DATA Act will now head to the Senate where it will be considered.

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