Hearing to focus on TARP waste prevention

WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, says he wants the U.S. Treasury Department to explain its efforts to prevent waste and abuse of federal bailout funds for banks.

Kucinich, chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, scheduled a hearing Wednesday to evaluate the department's data collection procedures for monitoring use of funds allocated from the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

The hearing also will examine Treasury's ability to detect and prevent waste and misuse of TARP monies, as well as look into examples of how TARP recipients spent their funds, the Ohio congressman said in a release.