I believe Congress should be committed to conducting meaningful oversight when it comes to examining how Washington spends your hard-earned tax dollars. It is imperative our government run as efficiently and effectively as possible in order to meet the many challenges facing our nation. To that end, I continue to work toward eliminating the fiscal waste and abuse found throughout the government bureaucracy, and ask members of Congress and citizens across the country will join me in this effort to demand transparency and accountability in the federal budget.

Reports: As part of this oversight initiative, I am working to release a series of oversight reports on federal agencies. I hope agencies and other congressional committees alike will welcome this oversight and work with us to help identify even more areas of waste, fraud, and abuse, as well as new ways to better prioritize our nation’s limited financial resources. To view these oversight reports, please visit the “Investigative Reports” page:
Government Waste: For examples of outrageous government waste, visit the “Your Tax Dollars at Work” and "Washington Waste of the Day" pages.

If you have discovered government waste, and want to submit a tip (anonymously, if you wish) for an area in need of oversight, please visit the "Submit a Tip About Government Waste" page:
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency: The USASpending.gov website allows you to “google” all government grants, contracts and loans, so you can track how your money is being spent by Washington:

The information listed below is my latest oversight reports and letters. I am absolutely committed to aggressive and responsible congressional oversight of all federal spending. I will identify problems and provide information to the Congress and the public. However, it is up to the American people to demand that their elected officials respond vigorously to the findings.

Tom Coburn, M.D.

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July 31, 2008

U.S. Spending $470,000+ to Send 116 Federal Employees to Mexico City AIDS Conference

Funds Could Have Been Used to Eliminate a U.S. Waiting List for AIDS Drugs or to Prevent Over 59,000 Newborns from Becoming Infected with HIV

Mexico City AIDS Conference Logo

At least 116 U.S. federal employees will join 22,000 people attending this week’s International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

Taxpayers will contribute almost a half-a-million dollars to the event, an amount that could have been spent to provide life-saving medication to every American on a waiting list for AIDS drugs or to prevent over 50,000 newborns from becoming infected with HIV.

Click the following link for a copy of the Senate oversight report on the 2008 International AIDS Conference.

In addition to some scientific and scholarly workshops, the event will feature a “Sex Workers Mini Film Festival,” and a session led by a pro-prostitution group that brags of being “proud” of its work and proud to bring in “lots of tourist dollars” for Thailand. There will also be a workshop on the “Sexy Life” after HIV infection and one entitled “Good Catholics Use Condoms: How to Answer the Tough Questions Surrounding HIV/AIDS Prevention and Religion,” which will be moderated by a woman whose D.C.-based group favors legalized abortion, gay marriage, and contraception — all positions opposed by the Catholic Church.

Among the attendees will be at least 116 federal employees from the:

· National Institutes for Health (NIH),

· Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

· Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),

· Food and Drug Administration (FDA),

· U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),

· Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), ),

· Department of Defense (DOD),

· Census Bureau, and

· Peace Corps.

All told, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will spend $360,500 on the following:

· $165,000 for hotel and per diem costs;

· $100,000 for registration;

· $86,000 for airfare from DC, Atlanta, and overseas locations; and

· $9,500 for a U.S. government-wide booth

The XVII International AIDS Conference occurring this week in Mexico City, Mexico, is organized by the International AIDS Society and is expected to cost $25 million and attract 22,000 conference-goers. It will cost U.S. taxpayers at least $473,095 to send the planned delegation of over 100 government employees to this single conference, according to figures collected and published in a report by the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security minority staff.

Senator Tom Coburn, a practicing physician who has cared for patients living with HIV/AIDS, and ranking member of the Senate Federal Financial Management subcommittee issued the report and stated, “This is a simple question of priorities when it comes to addressing HIV/AIDS—talk or treatment? Conference or care? While the waiting list for federal employees to attend the AIDS conference may now exceed the waiting list for patients seeking AIDS drugs, most taxpayers would probably agree that providing life saving treatment to 35 of their fellow Americans is a better expenditure of funds than paying to send 114 government employees on a trip to Mexico. No one will die from not being able to attend a conference, but the same is not true for those who are living with HIV/AIDS and can not access treatment.”

Dr. Coburn encourages anyone who has examples of government waste to submit the information to his Web site tip line.

Or by mail to his subcommittee office:

Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Tipsters may remain anonymous.