GOLDEN DRAIN AWARDS TO CHERTOFF AND RUMSFELD -- (House of Representatives - September 19, 2006)
(Mr. CARDOZA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Speaker, the Truth Squad on Waste, Fraud and Abuse has been tasked with holding this administration and this Congress accountable for mishandling of taxpayer dollars.
Last week the Truth Squad recognized the first two winners of the Golden Drain Award, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
We created this award to bring attention to the waste, fraud and abuse in government. Otherwise it will never stop.
Overseeing a department that has squandered billions of taxpayer dollars, Michael Chertoff and Donald Rumsfeld are clearly deserving of this inauspicious honor.
In FEMA alone, we have seen billions of dollars go down the golden drain as a result of no-bid contracts and fraud during the aftermath of the Katrina crisis.
The Defense Department has been unable to produce a clean audit, and the Pentagon's track record of waste, fraud and mismanagement in Iraq under Mr. Rumsfeld is disgraceful.
All told, the Truth Squad has identified over $150 billion that has gone down the golden drain.
Republicans believe that government does not work, and this administration seems to prove it every single day. Enough is enough. It is time for a new direction.
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