**\$55,000,000,000\***

**\*The amount of taxpayer dollars federal agencies lost last year by
making avoidable mistakes.**

Dear Colleague:

Ever wonder how much money we could save if we simply cut back on
mistakes and improper payments?  In Fiscal Year 2007, the number may
surprise you.

Improper payments occur when a federal agency pays too much or pays
twice for a product or service.  These improper payments may occur as a
result of fraud or from poor financial management systems that do not
detect or prevent mistakes before federal dollars are misspent. 
According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in Fiscal Year
2007, federal agencies are estimated to have made nearly **\$55 billion
in improper payments**.  That is more than the total budget for the
Department of Homeland Security and twice as much as the government is
projected to spend on upgrading the vehicles our soldiers are using in
Iraq against roadside bombs. 

It is clear that federal agencies can do much more to identify and
prevent improper payments and address the management weaknesses that
cause them.  That is why we urge your support for the *Improper Payments
Elimination and Recovery Act of 2008 (IPERA). * This bipartisan bill
(H.R. 5467) is the House companion to S. 2584, legislation introduced by
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE).  **The bill has also been endorsed by the
National Taxpayers Union and the Council for Citizens Against Government
Waste.**

This legislation would help identify, reduce and eliminate improper
payments, as well as recover lost funds.  Specifically, IPERA would:

-   **[Improve Transparency]{.underline}**

> Currently, OMB has set the reporting threshold for improper payments
> very low, meaning millions of dollars in erroneous payments go
> unreported -- and potentially unaddressed -- each year.  This bill
> would lower the reporting threshold so Congress and the general public
> have a better picture of the problem we face.

-   **[Prevent Improper Payments]{.underline}**

> Our bill would help prevent improper payments from happening in the
> first place by requiring agencies report on their corrective action
> plans and the improper payment reduction targets they are using to
> address their payment error problems.

-   **[Recover Overpayments]{.underline}**

> Under current law, agencies are only required to seek to recover
> overpayments they make if they hand out more than \$500 million in
> payments to contractors each year.  IPERA would expand the use of
> recovery auditing by requiring that all agencies with outlays of more
> than \$1 million perform recovery audits on their programs and
> activities.

-   **[Holding Agencies Accountable]{.underline}**

> IPERA would require that agencies hold top managers accountable for
> their progress, or lack of progress, in addressing their improper
> payment problems.  It would also financially penalize those agencies
> that persistently fail to comply with the law or commit an
> unacceptable level of payment errors.

We urge your cosponsorship because allowing this level of waste to
continue unchecked is both reckless and unacceptable.  If you have any
additional questions, please contact Seth Frotman in Congressman
Murphy's office at 5-4276 or Amy Smith in Congressman Bilbray's office
at 5-0508

Sincerely,

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_                                                 
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Patrick J.
Murphy                                                                    
Brian P. Bilbray

MEMBER OF CONGRESS                                                   
MEMBER OF CONGRESS