Tuesday the House passed four bipartisan supported bills to address waste, fraud and abuse and to increase transparency at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The bills were incorporated in an initiative introduced within the first 100 days of Congress by freshman members of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said in a statement that, “The American people deserve a government that is accountable and transparent. The freshmen on my committee have put forward common-sense legislation to further this goal and make the Department of Homeland Security a more efficient and effective organization. I look forward to working with our colleagues in the Senate to move these bills to the President’s desk.”
HR 1626, the DHS IT Duplication Reduction Act of 2015, introduced by Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), would reduce duplication of information technology at the department.
HR 1633, the DHS Paid Administrative Leave Accountability Act of 2015, introduced by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), would require improvements to the tracking and reporting of DHS employees placed on administrative leave or any other type of paid non-duty status for personnel matters.
The Federally Funded Research and Development Sunshine Act of 2015, (HR 1637) introduced by Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), chairman of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies Subcommittee, would require annual reports on the activities and accomplishments of DHS’s federally funded research and development centers.
The Department of Homeland Security Headquarters Consolidation Accountability Act of 2015 (HR 1640) introduced by Republican Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to Congress areport on DHS’s headquarters consolidation project at St. Elizabeth’s.
