Golden Fleece Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) named the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Amtrak, as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award for being unable to account for $4.1 million in equipment due to a lack of proper asset management controls.

"As the recipient of billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer subsidies, it is stunningly irresponsible for Amtrak not to have basic inventory systems to keep track of its Engineering Department equipment," said Congressman Hill. "It is especially troubling that some of Amtrak's unaccounted for equipment was purchased with grant funds, putting Arkansas's taxpayers on the hook for a lack of proper asset management control systems. These failures are completely unacceptable, and I call on Amtrak to immediately implement inventory reforms in order to be a responsible steward of hard-earned taxpayer dollars."


In a letter to the President and CEO of Amtrak, Richard Anderson, Congressman Hill wrote:

Dear Mr. Anderson,

I write today to inform you that the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Amtrak, is the most recent recipient of my Golden Fleece Award for being unable to account for $4 million in equipment and for a lack of asset management controls.

According to the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG), during an audit of maintenance-of-way (MOW) equipment, the engineering department at Amtrak could not “account for an estimated $4.1 million of this equipment despite making efforts during our audit to account for it.”[1] Further, the OIG determined that “the department is not positioned to manage and account for the $370 million in new MOW and rolling stock equipment that the company is purchasing through 2023.”[2]

Amtrak runs a deficit each year and requires federal assistance to cover operating losses and capital investment. I am concerned that Amtrak is not instituting reforms that will provide the program with long-term sustainability and ensure good stewardship of hardworking taxpayers’ dollars.

When our nation is more than $22 trillion in debt, our federal agencies must be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars. Should you require any additional authority from Congress to address these concerns, I urge you to notify us as soon as possible. I thank you for your consideration and look forward to working with you to address this important issue.

Sincerely,
French Hill
Member of Congress



About the Golden Fleece Award
Every year, Congress appropriates trillions of dollars to fund the federal government, and every year the federal government wastes portions of these funds in unconscionable ways. In an attempt to increase accountability for every single government program, Congressman Hill decided to bring back the Golden Fleece Award.

Originally introduced by Democratic U.S. Senator from Wisconsin William Proxmire in March 1975, the Golden Fleece Award was a monthly bulletin on the most frivolous and wasteful uses of hardworking taxpayers’ dollars. The Golden Fleece Award became a staple in the U.S. Senate during this time, and Senator Robert Byrd once stated that the awards were “as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters.”

In reviving this idea, the Golden Fleece Award will again have the opportunity to serve as an important reminder to taxpayers about the need for necessary, commonsense reforms to our federal spending.