On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor the Agency Accountability Act, H.R. 850, introduced by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.). The bill would require federal agencies to deposit revenues collected through fines, fees, or proceeds from legal settlements into the general fund of the Treasury.

Last week, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) introduced H.R. 5499, the Agency Accountability Act. Congress provides funds to federal agencies to carry out specified activities through the appropriations process. Too often, these agencies engage in activities that Congress has not authorized and pays for them via fines and fees they collect. This practice is an end run around Congress and the will of the people. Rep. Palmer’s bill would curb this practice, help restore the oversight function of Congress, and send the money garnered by federal agencies through fees to the Treasury instead of allowing those funds to be used indiscriminately.