Suhas Subramanyam

“This Military Appreciation Month, we honor those who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces and those who continue to wear it today. We celebrate veterans and their families who carry the burden of war with them and the American servicemembers currently standing watch in dangerous and uncertain places around the world. Every day, they choose duty to their country over comfort.”

“This bipartisan bill would increase the maximum cash bonus awarded to Federal employees who report waste, fraud, and abuse, from $10,000 to $20,000. Increasing this award will encourage more Federal workers to come forward and report on waste and improper spending. It will reward employees for acting in the best interest of American taxpayers. The bill also requires agencies to report on the wasteful and improper spending reported by employees, promoting transparency.”

“As the Senate looks to confirm or not confirm Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, I want to point to the body a recent DOJ memo on the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision which threatens to turn back the clock decades to a time when Americans with disabilities were offered less choice, less freedom, and less care. This memo means that DOJ will not require States to serve people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.”

“There are a lot of reasons why we are seeing rising costs. One reason is particularly troubling, and it is called surveillance pricing. You see, it is common for businesses to track our online activity, like searches and web browsing, and to use that to decide who to target with ads. What if they actually used that information to charge you a higher price for something they knew you actually needed? That is surveillance pricing. It is unfortunately becoming very common.”

“As I was saying before, what do you do when people in your administration constantly break the law? Do you clean house of all corruption and self-dealing or increase transparency and accountability? Well, this administration decided to go the opposite direction and just announced a plan last week to require all Federal workers to sign NDAs. The new message: If you see something, don't say something, even if that something is against the law. These NDAs aren't just meant to cover sensitive, internal deliberations or classified information.”

“I also rise in support of H.R. 8463, the Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act. This bill will help prevent improper payments by requiring that agencies verify with the U.S. Treasury that payments are going to the right place before they are made. Agencies would be required to use the Treasury's Do Not Pay system to confirm that recipients, one, have a valid Social Security number; two, are not deceased; and, three, have a valid bank account. The bill would also impose heavy fines for any misuse of the Do Not Pay system.”