Issue Position: Government Accountability

Issue Position

Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said "Sunlight is the best of disinfectants." Transparency in government should not be after thought; it should receive primary consideration in all the government does. Taxpayers deserve no less than complete disclosure.

The first piece of legislation I ever passed in Congress was to create an online database where the American people could easily view how their taxpayer dollars were being spent in relation to the Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP)

In the 111th Congress, I served as a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee - the House committee with primary jurisdiction over federal agencies. During my time on the committee, I worked to ensure taxpayers received a full accounting on the activities of the federal government. I directly called on the committee chairman to conduct hearings on various topics where there was concern that taxpayer money was being mishandled.

In the 112th Congress, I now serve on the Ways and Means Committee's Oversight Subcommittee. As a subcommittee member, I plan to conduct vigorous oversight of the programs within the subcommittee's jurisdiction that touch the lives of millions of Americans.

The Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee will play an important role in overseeing the health care law. The American people deserve to know the continuing impact of the health law on various aspects of their livelihood including the ways the law destroys jobs, raises taxes and empowers government bureaucrats appointed to the Independent Medicare Advisory Board to determine the level and types of services our seniors will receive.

Since the start of the new Congress, I have introduced H.R. 606- the Federal Program Sunset Commission Act (LINK). This bill creates a bipartisan commission to help abolish federal programs that are found to be duplicative, unnecessary, inefficient, or don't meet specific performance standards. Every year, the Sunset Commission will issue a report to Congress with a list of federal programs that should be abolished as well as recommendations on how other programs can be improved. Importantly, within six months of being listed for abolishment, the federal program will cease to receive federal funding and the program's funding will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. My bill, if passed, makes the federal government more efficient without raising taxes or creating new regulations, in short it does more with less.

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