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Vice President Joe Biden today announced the release of a Presidential memo calling for tighter oversight of recipients of Recovery Act (ARRA) funds.

According to government figures, agencies failed to file reports on 1,036 Recovery Act awards in the last fiscal quarter. Although spending reports were submitted for 65,429 other awards, Biden said the goal should be to have every single federal dollar accounted for.

“After more than a year implementing the Recovery Act, I can proudly say that we’re not only creating jobs across the country, but doing so responsibly and with a level of transparency never before seen in this town,” Biden said. “This Presidential Memorandum will continue to make sure that every dollar is accounted for and every official is held accountable.”

Earl Devaney, Chairman of the independent Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, created by the ARRA, said cracking down on recipients that fail to report is the best way to ensure full accountability.

“I have been a strong advocate of compliance measures that would encourage recipients of Recovery funds to submit their spending reports to the Recovery Board, as required by the Recovery Act,” Devaney said. “The President’s decision to issue a memorandum to the senior officials of executive departments and agencies will go a long way toward helping the Board achieve our goal of 100 percent compliance.”