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WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today unveiled more
financial mismanagement and additional waste, fraud and abuse at the
Pentagon. Evidence uncovered by the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Navy wasted taxpayer dollars
because it did not have a system in place to properly account for the use
of cell phones and calling cards. In some instances, GAO found that
the Navy paid excessive phone bills, that Navy personnel wasted cell phone
minutes, and that credit cards were used to make calls for days.
Schakowsky,
who requested the report, said, “The systematic waste of taxpayer dollars
at the Defense Department is soaring. This report about the misuse
of calling cards and cell phones by Navy personnel is another example of
the virtually unchecked financial mismanagement at the Pentagon that is
costing taxpayers billions of dollars. It is shameful that while
the Bush Administration is letting violators and abusers of government-issued
cell phones and calling cards off the hook, families are forced to send
their sons and daughters deployed around the world calling cards to phone
home.”
“The
Pentagon continues to waste billions of dollars a year, is unable to pass
an audit and cannot account for over $1 trillion in financial transactions,
yet the Bush Administration continues to demand from Congress and the American
public record budget increases for the Defense Department. At the
same time the Bush Administration has failed to deliver essential equipment
and crucial services to some of our soldiers serving in Iraq and other
war zones, and has neglected their families and our veterans' health and
welfare needs. Before another dollar is added to the defense budget,
it is our responsibility to clean up waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon
and ensure that our men and women in uniform are never without the resources
they need,” Schakowsky continued. |
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