The recent child care fraud scandal in Minnesota exposed a twofold problem: first, the blatant and ongoing misuse of taxpayer dollars, and second, that some of these offenders were not even American citizens. A sovereign nation can do better than allowing foreigners into our country to steal money from the American taxpayer. It is clear that Congress must exert its authority to crack down on this abuse. For this reason, I have introduced the Stop Fraud by Strengthening Oversight and More Accountability for Lying and Illegal Activity Act, which will impose just consequences for these offenders.

My legislation, which was introduced with the support of Sens. John Kennedy (R-LA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), would amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act and impose strict penalties on child care providers who commit fraud. It would require states to repay the federal government for misspent funds and to authorize additional sanctions against fraudsters, including penalties such as debarment for providers found to have committed fraud, and disqualification from receiving CCDBG funds in the future. In addition, my legislation requires offenders to be referred to the Department of Justice for federal criminal investigation and prosecution. These penalties would serve the twofold purpose of restoring stolen funds while deterring future potential fraudsters from engaging in these nefarious crimes.