From his perch on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., scored a win this week as his bill giving Congress more oversight of wasteful spending in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) passed the U.S. House without opposition.
Rutherford teamed up with U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, earlier this month to unveil the “Reducing Department of Homeland Security Acquisition Cost Growth Act.”
According to Rutherford’s office, his legislation would“hold DHS agencies more accountable in administering their major acquisition programs and would give Congress greater oversight of troubled programs to prevent wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars by agencies like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).”
Rutherford has cited reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the DHS Office of the Inspector General which showed DHS has had major problems with major acquisition programs, leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than $7 billion. The Jacksonville Republican also has pointed to a GAO report from 2015 which “found that 20 out of 22 major acquisition programs experienced cost growth, schedule slips, or both” and these programs are “highly susceptible to waste and mismanagement.”
“The passing of H.R.1294 is great news for preventing wasteful spending at the Department of Homeland Security,” Rutherford said on Tuesday after the House passed with bill on a 408-0 vote. “Department of Homeland Security’s acquisition programs represent hundreds of billions of dollars in spending, but they repeatedly face cost overruns and schedule delays. This will help provide necessary tools for FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection to do their jobs – keeping Americans safe. It will also ensure Congress can provide greater oversight of major acquisition programs and can implement solutions to quickly address any setbacks. I thank the House of Representatives for voting to stop wasteful spending.”
The bill now heads to the Senate.
In his first two months in Congress, Rutherford has taken a large role on homeland security issues, including being appointed by McCaul onto the newly formed Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry into the United States.
