WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Sen. Chuck Grassley issued the following news release:
Q: What is the federal government's #1 tool to fight fraud?
A: More than a century after President Lincoln first signed the False Claims Act into law, I never could have predicted how effective the Civil War-era amendments I updated in 1986 would become on behalf of the American taxpayer. The so-called Lincoln's Law was enacted in 1863 to combat unscrupulous government contractors from defrauding the Union Army. Fraudsters were selling shoddy supplies to make a fast buck, outfitting the Union troops with substandard uniforms, mixing sawdust with gunpowder and even selling blind horses to the Union cavalry. The anti-fraud tool enabled whistleblowers to file lawsu...