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Published January 14, 2015
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," November 18, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: The Web site Recovery.gov is designed to keep track of stimulus funds. Americans are encouraged to report waste to the Web site.
Here's an interesting twist. Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite filed a complaint to recovery.gov about waste on recovery.gov. Why? Earlier the congresswoman went "On the Record."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Congresswoman, it's nice to see you.
REP. GINNY BROWN-WAITE, R - FLA.: Thank you very much, Greta. It's good to see you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Nice to be in your office.
BROWN-WAITE: It is. I like the high ceilings here.
VAN SUSTEREN: Indeed. All right, you made some news today. Recovery.gov, the Web site, do you have a problem with it?
BROWN-WAITE: I think America needs to of a problem with it because there was over $18 million spent on this contract.
VAN SUSTEREN: Just to build the Web site.
BROWN-WAITE: No, that was the updating of the Web site. We tried to the copy of the contract. Everything is redacted in the contract.
That's the contract. Smartronics is the company. By the way, OMB said they would do the same thing for $600,000. But we still don't know the amount of the original contract. But we do know that they spent $18 million to update the Web site.
And updating the Web site mean total erroneous information on it.
VAN SUSTEREN: Whose Web site is it?
BROWN-WAITE: It is the Web site that tracks -- it is the administration's Web site that tracks where the stimulus money went.
VAN SUSTEREN: So prior to the February 17th this year, I think that was the date the president's signed the stimulus bill, did this Web site exist?
BROWN-WAITE: No.
VAN SUSTEREN: So this is a President Obama administration Web site to track where the stimulus money goes.
BROWN-WAITE: Correct.
VAN SUSTEREN: And it costs $180 million to?
BROWN-WAITE: It was $18 million to update the Web site. We still don't know what the original contract was. We cannot find that out. And obviously, it is filled with parts that are redacted.
VAN SUSTEREN: Why is it all redacted? What would be the purpose? It can't be national security.
BROWN-WAITE: It can't be national security, and it sure does not indicate that we have transparency in these contracts. If OMB could've done it for $600,000, why not use OMB?
VAN SUSTEREN: Where did you get that contract?
BROWN-WAITE: There actually is a good government group that tried to find out and they tried to get the contract. And they supplied it to us.
VAN SUSTEREN: On top of the $18 million, which I can tell you are not wild about, you filed a complaint today.
BROWN-WAITE: Yes. I called and I filed a waste, fraud, and abuse complaint against Recovery.gov. And what I said was that they are wasting America's money by putting information on there that is not accurate.
For example, it was reported that $3 million was spent to create five jobs in Florida's 86th Congressional district.
VAN SUSTEREN: Florida is your state. Do you have 868 Congressional districts?
BROWN-WAITE: No, ma'am. We have 25.
VAN SUSTEREN: So where is this 86th district?
BROWN-WAITE: Where did they get this information from? I don't know.
VAN SUSTEREN: We had better hope that it's incompetence rather than the money actually went out.
BROWN-WAITE: Because if they only created five jobs for $3 million, do the math. We would have been better off just paying off the people.
VAN SUSTEREN: That's $600,000 apiece or whatever it is. But even more important, let's hope that they were incompetent and that money simply never went out rather than that they actually dished it out.
BROWN-WAITE: Correct. And when asked where they got their information from, because a staff member called before I called, they said that they relied on the reporting of local governments and state governments.
No local government -- all local governments know what Congressional district they are in because that is -- when they fill out a grant application, they know what Congressional district they are in. So where did they get this information? I have no idea.
But again, it is a waste of money. And where are the jobs? That is what people want to know. A week and a half ago we passed a health care bill that nobody wanted. That is not a questions that members of Congress are asked. We are asked where the jobs? When that the economy going to recover?
VAN SUSTEREN: The interesting thing about Recovery.gov is that there's actually a section on the Web site where you can file complaints about waste. So you filed a complaint about waste on a Web site that's soliciting comments about waste.
BROWN-WAITE: I complained about Recovery.gov, yes, to them as a total waste.
VAN SUSTEREN: Have their responded?
BROWN-WAITE: No, I have not heard back.
VAN SUSTEREN: And when do you expect to hear back?
BROWN-WAITE: They did not give me a time or a date that they would get back to me.
VAN SUSTEREN: Can you call in person or do you do it online?
BROWN-WAITE: It's the number that's listed for the waste, fraud, and abuse, because it is obviously a waste.
And more important, where are the jobs? They are not in Congressional district 86. There is no Congressional district 86. Where are the jobs?
VAN SUSTEREN: When you get a response from them, will you call us?
BROWN-WAITE: We certainly will.
VAN SUSTEREN: I am curious to hear where these jobs are, especially this 86th district.
BROWN-WAITE: Correct.
VAN SUSTEREN: It's too bad. I probably should not laugh.
BROWN-WAITE: No, because...
VAN SUSTEREN: People are suffering.
BROWN-WAITE: The need for jobs is absolutely on the top of everyone's list and having economic recovery in our country. That is what people want.
VAN SUSTEREN: Congresswoman, thank you very much, and we will check back with you to see if they get in touch with you.
BROWN-WAITE: Sounds great, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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