Rep. Edolphus Towns, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, is calling on the Treasury Department to implement accountability and transparency recommendations.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Thursday, Towns, D-N.Y., asked him to listen to the recommendations of Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Barofsky testified before the committee Wednesday, recommending that all TARP agreements include requirements that receipients of federal dollars must provide Barofsky and other oversight authorities information on how the money has been spent. He also urged creation of internal controls and clarifying compliance with TARP rules.
He asked Geithner to implement Barofsky’s recommendations before distributing any more TARP funding.
Towns writes that better TARP oversight could be a model for future program oversight operations:
“Moving forward, I would like to see the same level of oversight performed by independent, presidentially–appointed inspectors general at other financial regulatory agencies which are spending taxpayer money in an effort to boost the economy.”
