Congress must act to crack down on child care fraud

My legislation, which was introduced with the support of Sens. John Kennedy (R-LA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), would amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act and impose strict penalties on child care providers who commit fraud. It would require states to repay the federal government for misspent funds and to authorize additional sanctions against fraudsters, including penalties such as debarment for providers found to have committed fraud, and disqualification from receiving CCDBG funds in the future. In addition, my legislation requires offenders to be referred to the Department of Justice for federal criminal investigation and prosecution. These penalties would serve the twofold purpose of restoring stolen funds while deterring future potential fraudsters from engaging in these nefarious