PREVENTING RIP-OFFS AND OBTAINING OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS ACT

On 2026-09-16, Representative Jefferson Van Drew (D-NJ-2) delivered a floor speech titled "PREVENTING RIP-OFFS AND OBTAINING OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS ACT" in the House.

PREVENTING RIP-OFFS AND OBTAINING OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 146 (Wednesday, September 16, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 146 (Wednesday, September 16, 2026)] [House] [Pages H5947-H5953] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] PREVENTING RIP-OFFS AND OBTAINING OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS ACT Mr. VAN DREW. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1530, I call up the bill (H.R. 10326) to enhance information-sharing capabilities between Federal law enforcement and State agencies to detect, investigate, and prosecute fraud in certain Federal programs, and to protect individual privacy, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1530, the bill is considered read. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 10326 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Rip-offs and Obtaining Oversight of Funds Act'' or the ``PROOF Act''. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR INFORMATION SHARING AND ACCESS. (a) In General.--The head of a State administering a program described in subsection (b) shall, upon receipt of a written request from the Attorney General, provide such information as the Attorney General may require for purposes of investigating or prosecuting alleged fraud committed with regard to such program. (b) Programs Described.--The programs described in this subsection are the following: (1) A State plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (or waiver of such plan). (2) The supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). (3) The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program established under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). (4) State unemployment compensation programs receiving funding under title III of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.). (5) The Coronavirus Relief Fund established under section 601 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801). (6) The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds established under sections 602 and 603 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 802, 803). (7) The Emergency Rental Assistance programs established under section 501 of subtitle A of title V of division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9058a) and section 3201 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9058c). (8) Elementary and secondary school emergency relief grants under-- (A) section 18003 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20 U.S.C. 3401 note); (B) section 313 of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260; 20 U.S.C. 3401 note); and (C) section 2001 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2; 20 U.S.C. 3401 note). (9) The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program established under section 60102(b)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1)). (10) The Community Development Block Grant program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). (11) Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation grant programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). (12) The State Small Business Credit Initiative program established under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.). (13) Any other program pursuant to which funds are made available to States identified by the Attorney General as vulnerable to fraud. (c) Scope of Information.--The requirement under subsection (a) applies to the following: (1) Identity verification records. (2) Benefit disbursement logs. (3) Provider billing statements. (4) Demographic information directly related to an active fraud investigation. (5) Any other information, as determined appropriate by the Attorney General for purposes of the investigation or prosecution of alleged fraud. SEC. 3. INFORMATION PROTECTION AND PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS. (a) Compliance With Privacy Laws.--The Attorney General shall handle all information obtained under section 2 in accordance with section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974''), and, where applicable, the regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note). (b) Security Protocol.--The Attorney General shall establish information security protocols to ensure that information transferred from a State agency-- (1) is encrypted using industry-standard protocols; (2) may only be accessed by authorized personnel; and (3) is destroyed and permanently removed from any database upon the conclusion of the relevant legal proceedings or investigation. (c) Limitation on Use.--A Federal agency may only use information obtained under this Act for law enforcement purposes related to fraud, and may not disclose such information for any unrelated administrative or commercial purpose. SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives detailing-- (1) the number of requests issued to State agencies pursuant to this Act; (2) the programs with respect to which such requests were made; and (3) the number of fraud investigations initiated and convictions secured using the information obtained. SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act shall take effect on the date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the provisions of such to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby. SEC. 7. DEFINITION. In this Act, the term ``State'' means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United States. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees. The gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey. General Leave Mr. VAN DREW. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 10326. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New Jersey? There was no objection. Mr. VAN DREW. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 10326, the Preventing Rip-offs and Obtaining Oversight of Funds Act, otherwise known as the PROOF Act. For years and years, the American taxpayer has been treated like an open ATM machine by sophisticated criminal syndicates, international fraudsters, and identity thieves. Billions of dollars intended for our most vulnerable citizens, for our children, for the hungry, and for the unemployed have, instead, been stolen by criminals. The tragedy isn't just that the money was stolen. The tragedy is that Federal law enforcement didn't have sufficient tools to stop it. Sophisticated fraud rings intentionally scatter their operations across State lines because they know individual State databases do not talk to each other, and they also know they can hide behind local bureaucratic red tape. We saw this exact crisis play out in Minnesota, where the Department of Justice and the United States Department of Agriculture uncovered massive, multimillion dollar retail SNAP fraud rings. The State administration actively resisted handing over the necessary applicant and disbursement data, calling the Federal request unprecedented. When Federal oversight agencies demanded daycare attendance logs to stop corrupt providers from billing for kids who actually didn't attend the center, they were denied the request. [[Page H5948]] Let me say that again: billing for children who weren't even there--to find that out and to stop it. It is the American taxpayers' money. Voluntary State compliance has failed. We cannot allow State-level bureaucratic foot-dragging to act as a shield for criminals who are robbing the American taxpayer, and we certainly can't allow partisan political grandstanding, like we saw in Minnesota and California, derail these vital investigations and prosecutions. Wrong is wrong, and right is right. What was going on there was very, very wrong. The PROOF Act provides the solution. It gives the Federal Government the statutory legal teeth it needs by mandating that when an Attorney General issues a written request tied to a fraud investigation, State agencies must share the data. We are all in this together. Crucially, this legislation builds directly off the powerful antifraud foundation already laid by the administration. {time} 1640 Earlier this year, the administration established a National Fraud Enforcement Division and launched a National Fraud Detection Center to centralize and aggressively target high-impact fraud schemes. This bill ensures that Congress enables the administration--any administration--to have a whole-of-government crackdown on government waste go directly into law. Madam Speaker, I would tell my colleagues who may be concerned about privacy to read th

Referenced legislation: HRES1530, HRES1530, HR10326