| WASHINGTON,
D.C. – The ranking member and chairman of a key government oversight subcommittee
in the House of Representatives today called for a comprehensive investigation
by the General Accounting Office (GAO) of government-issued credit card
waste, fraud, and abuse in the pentagon and other agencies.
U.S.
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), ranking member of the Government
Reform Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and
Intergovernmental Relations, and Steve Horn (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee,
specifically requested that GAO
“
… examine purchases made during fiscal year 2001 to determine whether
items purchased at local retailers could have been purchased from the General
Services Administration schedule at a lower cost. From that data,
we would like the GAO to estimate the amount of money that was lost because
of those purchases at the Department of Defense. In addition, we
would like the GAO to estimate the government-wide loss that resulted from
credit card holders who purchased items at a cost exceeding the GSA schedule.”
During
Congressional hearings on government purchase card abuse, the subcommittee
found that pentagon employees were using government credit cards to buy
clothes, luxury goods, and even a Lego set from a toy store. And
in an egregious instance, it was discovered that an employee used the official
government card to pay for $12,000 in personal items.
Below
is the letter to David Walker, Comptroller General, U.S. General Accounting
Office.
May
20, 2002
The
Honorable David Walker
Comptroller
General
U.S.
General Accounting Office
Washington,
DC
Dear
Comptroller General:
There
is a popular consensus that the Government’s Purchase Card Program is saving
taxpayers’ money. Unfortunately, that hypothesis has never been supported
by careful review and analysis of the costs of the program. As you
know, General Accounting Office auditors are examining this program at
several facilities within the Department of Defense for our subcommittee.
Thus far, auditors have found that purchase cards have been used for personal
items, for luxury goods and for gift certificates. Card numbers have
been stolen and the agency, even after learning about the theft, failed
to cancel the card numbers. Preliminary reports from the GAO suggest
that these problems exist throughout the Department of Defense.
The
lack of internal controls over the program may be causing additional waste
as well. We would like to request the GAO to investigate this aspect of
credit card use in the Department of Defense and in other agencies.
In
particular, we request that the GAO to examine purchases made during fiscal
year 2001 to determine whether items purchased at local retailers
could have been purchased from the General Services Agency schedule at
a lower cost. From that data, we would like the GAO to estimate the
amount of money that was lost because of those purchases at the Department
of Defense. In addition, we would like the GAO to estimate the government-wide
loss that resulted from credit card holders who purchased items at a cost
exceeding the GSA schedule.
Sincerely,
Jan Schakowsky
Steve Horn
Ranking Minority
Member, Chairman,
Subcommittee on Government Efficiency Subcommittee on Government
Efficiency |
