2.3 million dollars to inject Six-month-old beagle puppies with Cocaine apparently there's not enough Evidence of what happens to humans on Cocaine three million dollars to watch Hamsters fight on steroids this is the Tip of the iceberg a ranking member Paul You're recognized for your opening Comments Thank you uh this committee is long Overdue for a hearing that focuses on The rampant waste Fraud and Abuse in the Federal government we're faced with a 31 Trillion dollar mountain of debt rather Than an attempt to get spending under Control though both parties continue to Propose new spending with no regard for The exploding debt or controlling the Already existing spending to make Matters worse everyone in Congress knows That the plague of waste has infected Just about every Federal agency but Rather than take steps to restore fiscal Health Congress buries its head in the Sand dulls out more and more taxpayer Money every year to the executive branch With no strings attached crosses its Fingers and hopes the problem will fix Itself for years I've documented Outlandish spending in my annual waste Report which exposes how the federal Government is misusing Americans Hard-earned tax dollars My most recent report uncovered 482
Billion dollars in government waste For example NIH spent more than 1.1 Million to get mice drunk Apparently we're not aware of what Happens when you drink too much 2.3 Million dollars to inject six-month-old Beagle puppies with cocaine apparently There's not enough evidence of what Happens to humans on cocaine Three million dollars to watch hamsters Fight on steroids this is the tip of the Iceberg this is the kind of stuff this Has been going on since the 1970s many Of you will remember you know the Studies to figure out what makes people Happy you know this stuff's been going On forever and yet the agency that funds A lot of this the National Science Foundation we've doubled their their Their budget in the last two years and We think oh well they'll be much better With waste and fraud with double the Amount of money it's my opinion that the Only way you ever reign in waste and Fraud is give give these uh agencies Less money and then they'll be forced to To make do on less money Government Watchdogs like the GAO Were created to expose and combat waste Fraud and Abuse and mismanagement in the Federal government every two years GAO Publishes its own report that helps call Out government misdeeds the high risk Report is a compilation of government
Failures and vulnerabilities its Spotlights agencies and programs prone To waste Fraud and Abuse One issue prominently featured in gao's Most recent high-risk report is the Government-wide problem with improper Payments this has been listed in the Past and is is listed again this year For example in 2022 GAO found that Medicare made 46 billion dollars in Improper payments Medicaid made 81 Billion dollars in improper payments Which should really not come as a Surprise given that the Medicaid Program Suspended enforcement of Eligibility Reviews during the coveted pandemic this Hasn't been talked about much but during The pandemic All the so-called rules for looking at Abuse just went out the window and they Said oh well everybody deserves Medicaid Everybody deserves food stamps and Nobody came off any of these programs we Just threw out all of the oversight of These programs and as a consequence They're in some of the worst state that They've been in in a long time and if This wasn't bad enough GAO looks at you Know the substantial levels of fraud in The department of laborers unemployment Insurance program and says it's almost Impossible to even to Grapple with the Problem because it's so big and so Opaque like my own waste report Gio also
Identified Department of Defense as a Consistent perpetrator of waste Fraud And Abuse since 1995 GAO has identified Uh Department of defense's Financial Management has high risk unfortunately Not much has changed since then other Than the dod receiving bigger and bigger Checks every year this is an example of How this is really a bipartisan problem Republicans wanting unlimited checks for The defense department Democrats wanting Unlimited checks for the social welfare Everything goes up and the oversight Becomes less and less efficient or Profound Until the Department of Defense can Properly account for the money it spends Though Congress can never effectively Conduct the oversight of the department The dod has become a behemoth of Spending and no one here ever questions It how does all this waste happen A better question might be how does all This waste continue to happen and get Worse all the time when I was a kid in The 1970s William proxmeyer a Conservative Democrat used to give his Golden Fleece awards for nonsensical Government spending but here we are Decades later still facing the same Problems there was one study that they Did in the last two years I think it was Over a million dollars to study if you Take selfies of yourself smiling and you
Look at these selfies later on in the Day whether or not you'll be happier Well the thing is is You think that's going to get better if We give the National Science Foundation More money so we doubled their budget And they do more of this craziness and Every year we point it out and every Year gets worse because no one is Willing to call them on it and say we're Going to give you less money next year Unless you're better with spending the Money Mr chairman Geo identified Numerous instances of waste Fraud and Abuse that Congress can easily address I Appreciate gao's work but what really is Needed is Congressional will to Significantly reduce government waste And spending the American people deserve An accountable government that manages Their hard-earned dollars responsibly Mr Dodero thank you for being here today I Look forward to hearing your testimony And working with you to reduce the waste Fraud and Abuse identified in your Report