Congressman Fleischmann introduced his first two bills of the 113th Congress, both aimed at fighting wasteful spending. Officials said,"The Returned Exclusively For Unpaid National Debt (REFUND) Act would allow states to identify unwanted federal funds to be used to reduce the national debt. The Agency Conferences and Conventions Operating Under Necessary Transparency (ACCOUNT) Act would provide much needed transparency on agencies and put a stop to lavish taxpayer funded conferences."
“These bills are a step in the right direction towards curbing government spending and shedding light on government waste. Both issues were priorities in my first term, and I will continue fight for them in my second.” Rep. Fleischmann said. “The REFUND Act is a simple and efficient way to begin paying down the federal deficit by curbing unwanted spending. As we witnessed with the extravagant GSA Las Vegas Conference last year there is a clear lack of transparency regarding agency conferences. The ACCOUNT Act will require fiscal responsibility of agencies holding conferences.”
In support of the REFUND Act, the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) said, “The REFUND Act is a common-sense approach toward short-circuiting the ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ approach to accepting and spending federal grant money that has been a major contributor to Washington’s overspending problem.”
The ACCOUNT Act also received high praise from the NTU. Officials said, “Along with the ACCOUNT Act’s additional transparency and public accountability standards, measures to cut spending and reduce the size and scope of government are also needed to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used wisely. The millions of taxpayers who have foregone vacations and other amenities as they struggle to make ends meet deserve better than a federal government that wastes money on extravagant conferences.”