Senators: Taxpayers deserve to know they are being put first
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) along with his Senate colleagues Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Carper (D-DE), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Tom Udall (D-NM) are introducing The Know Conflicts Act, a piece of commonsense legislation to increase transparency regarding financial conflicts in the administration of federal assistance.
President Trump holds global financial interests of vast scale and complexity, but has refused to follow the recommendations of bipartisan ethics experts to avoid conflicts of interest that could affect his decision-making on behalf of the American people. This bill will provide a clearinghouse for information about financial conflicts of interest faced by the President and provide a measure of accountability so Americans know their tax dollars are being spent solely in their interest.
The legislation would:
- Update the Federal Funding and Accountability Act to require that USASpending.gov, a searchable public website with information on federal awards and assistance, include in any search information as to whether a federal award creates an active conflict of interest for the President or Vice President based on their financial disclosure reports.
- Direct the Department of Treasury to submit an annual report to Congress with a comprehensive accounting of all new and ongoing financial conflicts of interest.
“If we’ve said it once, we have said it a million times, the American people have the right to know if their highest elected leaders have financial ties that could affect decision-marking from the Situation Room to the Federal Reserve,” said Senator Casey.
"The Know Conflicts Act of 2017 would provide important information to help prevent federal funds from leading to serious conflicts of interest, and possibly even constitutional violations,” said Noah Bookbinder, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “This kind of prevention is especially important since current federal law exempts the President and Vice President from some ethics and conflicts laws that apply to other executive branch employees. We hope that Congress will recognize the value of this kind of transparency, as it did when a strong bipartisan coalition passed the law that created usaspending.gov a decade ago."
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