Sens Call for Speed, Fraud Protection in Stimulus Spending

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-Maine) Thursday asked the Administration to accelerate the spending of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money and urged close monitoring of stimulus dollars to prevent fraud and abuse. At a hearing entitled "Follow the Money: An Update on Stimulus Spending, Transparency, and Fraud Prevention," Administration witnesses testified that they have taken numerous steps to streamline red tape to allow for faster spending of stimulus dollars and to ferret out fraud and abuse. The Federal Trade Commission said it is working to protect consumers from fraudulent schemes claiming to dispense guaranteed grants from the economic stimulus program, and from other frauds exploiting consumers who are struggling due to the economic downturn.