Home Press Room Press Releases

Press Room

Apr 28 2014

Coburn Statement on Passage of DATA Act

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today hailed House passage the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, a bill to increase the availability, accuracy, and usefulness on on-line information regarding Federal spending.  That bill will require each government program to disclose agency expenditures which enables taxpayers and policy makers to track Federal spending more efficiently.  The Senate passed the DATA Act earlier this month.  The bill will now go to the president for his signature. 

“The passage of this bill is important precisely because the bureaucrats in Washington don’t want it and have fought it every step of the way.  In many cases, the federal government doesn’t even know what they’re doing with their resources and now they will have to know in order to comply with this law.  I hope President Obama will sign this bill into law as soon as possible and force the federal government to provide a full and transparent accounting of their use of taxpayer funds,” Dr. Coburn said.

This bill will establish Government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov.  By making government spending information easily accessible, this legislation will increase oversight to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse while enabling individuals to more easily access and understand how Federal tax dollars are being spent.

The Senate bill was cosponsored by Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John McCain (R-AZ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

###

Bookmark and Share


Date Title
12/16/14 Dr. Coburn on Tax Extenders: Washington’s Christmas Tree For Special Interests
12/16/14 Dr. Coburn's Statement on Protecting Veterans and Taxpayers
12/16/14 Senators Baldwin and Coburn Applaud Commitment to Enhance Access to HIV Drugs in Developing Countries
12/16/14 Coburn Introduces Bill to Protect and Strengthen the Social Security Disability Insurance Program
12/9/14 Coburn Releases Report Decoding the Tax Code
Date Title
11/18/14 Reps. Issa, Gingrey, and Sen. Coburn: GAO Study Finds Government’s Data Quality for Official Time is Unreliable
11/10/14 Value of Terrorism Prevention Centers Remains Unproven
Date Title
10/30/14 Wastebook 2014 Videos
10/29/14 Coburn “Concerned” With White House Reaction to Cyber Breach
10/22/14 Wastebook 2014: What Washington doesn't want you to read.
10/1/14 New Report Details Millions Spent on Unnecessary Transport of Surplus Vehicles From Afghanistan
Date Title
9/26/14 GAO: Federal Government Underreports Data Center Cost Savings by Billions
9/23/14 Statement by Senator Tom Coburn on the Recent Washington Post Story about the Department of Homeland Security
9/22/14 GAO: Long-term Viability of DHS Consolidation in Question
9/22/14 Bipartisan Bill to Consolidate Federal IT Infrastructure, Save Up to $3 Billion Passes Senate
9/19/14 Senate Approves Carper, Coburn Legislation to Curb Improper Payments to Deceased Individuals
9/19/14 Bipartisan Legislation Would Require State Representation on Federal Banking Board
9/9/14 Reducing Insurance Subsidies for Wealthy Farmers Could Save Hundreds of Millions Annually
Date Title
8/29/14 New Health Benefit For Temporary Federal Employees May Violate Federal Law
8/28/14 Oklahoma Delegation Responds to Obama Administration’s Failure to Grant ESEA Extension
8/13/14 GAO Report Confirms Need for Additional Oversight of Medicare Claims Reviews
8/12/14 Over 600 Illegal Immigrants with Prior Criminal Convictions Released into the U.S.
8/10/14 Big Banks Claim Millions of Dollars in Tax Credits Intended For Poor Communities
8/8/14 Members Call on OMB Director to Address Concerns of Inspectors General
8/4/14 GAO: $619 Billion in Government Spending Never Disclosed on Transparency Website