After introducing the Closing Long-Empty Accounts Now (CLEAN) Act on Tuesday with Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer (ND-AL), Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) took to the House floor to urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this common sense legislation that would crack down on empty federal bank accounts that cost millions to maintain despite serving no purpose.

“In recent years, the federal government has wasted millions of dollars maintaining empty bank accounts that serve no purpose,” Kuster said. “Last year, the Government Accountability Office found that the government was spending more than $170,000 maintaining over 28,000 empty bank accounts at an annual cost of 2 million dollars. That’s inexcusable. No New Hampshire family or business would tolerate that type of waste – and neither should the government.”

“That’s why today, I’m partnering with my Republican colleague, Representative Kevin Cramer, to introduce common sense legislation that would put an end to this wasteful practice,” Kuster continued. “This legislation won’t solve our fiscal challenges. But the fact is, the federal government shouldn’t tolerate any waste – no matter how big or small. Let’s prove to the American people that we’re capable of coming together to cut the most obvious examples of waste by passing the CLEAN Act.”

The CLEAN Act would require the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to list bank accounts held by the federal government that have a zero balance. The Council would then recommend which of these accounts should be closed, and the responsible federal agencies would then have no more than one week to close them.

Kuster is committed to cutting waste and inefficiency across the federal government while protecting important services for New Hampshire families and seniors. She is a cosponsor of the Government Waste Reduction Act, bipartisan legislation that could help the government save billions of dollars, cut wasteful spending, and consolidate duplicative programs.

Kuster is also a founding member of the United Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan coalition of Republican and Democratic new members of Congress who are focused on finding common sense solutions to our nation’s fiscal challenges. Kuster and Cramer serve as Co-Chairs of the Caucus’s Efficiencies and Consolidations Task Force.

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