HCA, until recently Columbia/HCA, recently set a record by agreeing to pay the federal government $745 million to settle a Medicare fraud case brought about by a complaint under the False Claims Act. The military and the Federal Aviation Administration last year learned though a complaint under the same act that a company that made aircraft control-system cables had been falsely claiming the cables were properly tested. And still pending, a scientist for a missile contractor has used the act to assert to government officials that test results showing the missiles’ low level of accuracy had been doctored.

There are plenty of cases like these – businesses more interested in making a buck than following essential safety rules. Some members of Congress, however, have an answer for the problem: weaken the act to reduce the amount of reporting.

Specifically, HR 4142 would eliminate the minimum fine of $5,000 levied for each false claim a company is found to have billed to the government. Supporters say the potential fine keeps some companies from bidding on projects, but while the government has, at times, been overzealous with fines for mere oversights, there is scant evidence that the bidding process is being rendered noncompetitive because of the claims act.

Instead, the claims act, which provides inducements for whistleblowers to report contractors who cheat the government, has been responsible for recovering nearly $4 billion in fines since President Ronald Reagan signed in 1986 an updated vrsion of a law that President Abraham Lincoln used during the Civil War to stop profiteers.

And since President Lincoln, there have been attempts by contractors to get around the act or to use Congress to create loopholes. The latest one in the House in no different. Given the sprawling nature of federal government and its huge budget, the temptation for a minority of businesses to get more than they deserve is great. The act has been properly and effectively used on hundreds of occasions to stop fraud and save tax dollars.

That’s reason enough to oppose any weakening of the act.