Nicole Malliotakis Accuses Democrats Of Fighting To 'Protect The Criminals And The Fraudsters'

8 hours ago

During debate on the House floor, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) spoke in support of HR 1156, the Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act.

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Transcript

00:00Gentlelady from New York is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:05It's unconscionable to me that our colleagues on the other side are actually continuing to fight

00:11to protect fraudsters, going so far as to even say that if they just stole $500,000 that they

00:19should not be prosecuted. But we, House Republicans, we're fighting for transparency. We're fighting to

00:25protect taxpayers. We're exposing the waste, the fraud, and the abuse, including an estimated

00:32$100 to $135 billion in pandemic unemployment fraud. Money that was paid for by the hard-working

00:41taxpayers of this country to help people who are going through a tough time during the COVID

00:47pandemic. Sadly, my state of New York ranks near the top of the list with an estimated $11 billion

00:54in fraudulent unemployment benefits. The precious taxpayer dollars went to fraudsters, many overseas,

01:02including China, Russia, and Nigeria. They even went to dead people and inmates in prison.

01:09Criminals spent their money on luxury items like Rolex watches, fancy furnishings, items from Louis

01:16Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci, and even a $10 million villa in the Dominican Republic.

01:23One spent $3.5 million on a mansion in New Jersey, a chartered private jet, Porsches, Ferraris,

01:30Bentleys, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benz. Another received over $1.5 million over a span of 10 months.

01:39Meanwhile, my district office in Staten Island and Brooklyn had to help dozens of constituents

01:44who had their identities stolen and could not get unemployment benefits they desperately needed.

01:51This is about fixing something that went badly wrong, to not just recoup taxpayers' money,

01:58but to ensure it doesn't happen again. This bill will help crack down on this type of fraud and

02:06would extend the statute of limitations that law enforcement needs to pursue criminal charges or

02:12civil actions. And it also incentivizes states to help us crack down and recover these fraudulent

02:18payments. And it puts checks and balances to stop future unemployment insurance payments from

02:25going to incarcerated and deceased people. To date, only $5 billion or less, about 4%

02:33of this massive fraud has been recovered. This statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud

02:39in COVID-19 pandemic era unemployment insurance will expire on March 27th.

02:47And there's roughly a thousand open cases investigating the fraud and we must allow

02:52law enforcement to do their work. And so I gladly support this bill because I'm on the side of the

02:59hard-working, tax-paying American who has had to foot this bill while my colleagues on the other

03:04side of the aisle continue to defend and protect the criminals and the fraudsters. Thank you and

03:10I yield back.

Nicole Malliotakis Accuses Democrats Of Fighting To 'Protect The Criminals And The Fraudsters'

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