A Valley congressman is in the hot seat tonight drawing negative attention.
The wall street journal claims he's been misusing your tax dollars.
The article states at least five top congressmen including Solomon Ortiz, misspent their federal stipends issued to them for official government travel overseas.
It adds that in some cases the congressmen would ask for increases on their stipends but allegedly the money was spent on items unauthorized by house rules.
The lawmakers also failed to return excess travel funds to the government.
Action 4 news put in a call to Congressman Ortiz's office.
We wanted to know if the allegations posted in the wall street journal were true, and they admit he broke the rules.
His spokesman Jose Borjon tells Action 4 News, "Congressman Ortiz, like many members of congress, has used a combination of personal and per diem funds to pay for appropriate travel-related expenses such as meals and local transportation."
The speaker of the house has recently issued new instructions regarding record-keeping for members and staff on international travel.
"The congressman will, of course, follow the new requirements, as well as any other new rules or procedures issued by the house or any of its committees. Beyond this we will have no further comment", Borjon said.
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