Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joined Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) in reintroducing the Tracking Receipts to Adversarial Countries for Knowledge of Spending (TRACKS) Act which requires the reporting and public disclosure of every penny from a government grant or contract that is provided to an entity located in a foreign country of concern including Communist China, Russia, North Korea, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This legislation provides crucial information on the dollar amount, location, and purpose for this funding and would be reported to the federal government and made publicly available online for the American public. The reintroduction of this legislation comes following the release of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General’s report finding that the DoD is not tracking defense dollars that may be going to Communist China.
“I am proud to join Senator Joni Ernst in reintroducing the TRACKS Act ensuring that no American taxpayer dollars are used to fund our foreign adversaries. It is inexcusable that the Department of Defense publicly admitted that they are not tracking taxpayer dollars going to Communist China,” said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “We cannot allow a single penny from hardworking Americans to go to foreign adversaries actively working against America and our interests. This desperately needed legislation ensures that bureaucrats are held accountable for their reckless and irresponsible spending that is lining the pockets of countries like Communist China.”
“This alarming Inspector General investigation demonstrates Washington hasn’t learned any lessons from COVID-19. Without my calls to audit DoD spending, these dollars wasted on our adversaries would have never been unmasked. Taxpayers deserve an explanation as to why the Pentagon was funding a controversial biotech company in China to create drug-resistant, mutant coronaviruses in the midst of the pandemic most likely sparked by the risky research funded by the U.S. government in another lab in China. It’s clear a much deeper investigation is warranted into all of this, and I am calling for one,” said Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA). “It’s also shocking the Biden administration is hiring an army of IRS agents to audit U.S. taxpayers but can’t keep track of where tax dollars are being spent overseas. My TRACKS Act, which is being introduced in the House today by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, will require every penny sent to China or any other country of concern be accounted for and the receipts be publicly posted. Then we can work to ensure American taxpayers never again aid the dangerous experiments of mad scientists in China.”
