Sen. Grassley Issues Statement on Reviewing Oversight by Senate Judiciary Committee
"Oversight is one of the most important responsibilities of this Legislative Branch. The
"In whatever capacity I have served my own fellow citizens of
"The agencies under the Committee's jurisdiction are some of the most powerful, and most consequential, in the Executive Branch. Our nation's law enforcement agencies have the authority to seek to search and seize our property and review our communications. When warranted, they may bring charges that can result in disgorgement of financial resources or loss of personal liberty. That's because these agencies have the equally weighty responsibility to protect us from criminal and intelligence threats of all stripes.
"These agencies help protect the taxpayer from fraud, hunt down violent offenders and fugitives, protect our senior leaders and judges, and dismantle illicit networks that traffic in illegal drugs, endangered wildlife, and worst of all, human beings. They safeguard our borders, secure our transportation and cyber networks, and return kidnapped children to their families.
"That's just a fraction of the many responsibilities of the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. I am grateful for the faithful public service of thousands of law enforcement agents, analysts, lawyers, engineers, scientists, officers, managers, and other employees who make up these agencies. And that includes, especially, those individuals who have not only done their jobs, but have truly gone above and beyond.
"A lot of times they don't like being called whistleblowers, because they never meant to be whistleblowers. But these employees--hundreds of them in the last four years--have courageously raised their hands and disclosed waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and all sorts of misconduct. I could not have fulfilled my oversight responsibilities without them.
"Because of whistleblowers, the Committee uncovered a pattern of wasteful spending at the
"Whistleblowers have also highlighted examples of gross mismanagement within the agency. For example, we know that last year roughly 2,000 deputy marshals were using expired or soon to be expired body armor. We also uncovered instances of unfair hiring practices and other serious ethical violations. In total, over 100 whistleblowers from the
"After supervisors ignored their warnings, whistleblowers at the
"Whistleblowers also contacted my office during the
"Thanks to more than 10 whistleblowers at the
"I have also had the pleasure of working with a number of whistleblowers at the
"Although the False Claims Act isn't new, I want to point out that is still working hard for the taxpayers. Because of the 1986 amendments to the Act, and all of our efforts to strengthen it, whistleblowers were empowered to help the government fight fraud. In the last four years, thanks largely to whistleblowers, the government has recovered
"That makes
"These are only a few examples of what has been achieved because of whistleblowers. They've saved our money, made us safer, and held our government accountable.
"Oversight leading to better legislation
"Our oversight efforts have also helped us write better laws.
"Through my investigations, I learned about problems with how the
"
"This Obama Social Security regulation was a pure and simple unconstitutional gun-grab. So, I worked to pass legislation with bipartisan support to terminate the regulation, 57-43.
"I've also worked to pass strong legislation to support the critical work done by inspectors general. In 2016, a broad bipartisan coalition of legislators passed the Inspector General Empowerment Act that reiterated
"It also gave IGs better tools that enable them to do their jobs more effectively, including the ability to conduct investigations without getting agency approval. It also strengthened public reporting requirements to ensure as much transparency as possible.
"I have also introduced legislation to create an IG for the federal judiciary to offer those employees the same rights offered to their co-equal executive branch counterparts. After holding a full Committee hearing on problems with rampant sexual harassment in the judiciary, and raising awareness on a lack of an effective reporting mechanism, the
"I hope through the establishment of this office, the AO will recognize the importance of transparency and accountability.
"Another example of where oversight led to a legislative solution is the Public Safety Officers Benefit program. Enacted in 1976, this program provides survivor benefits to the spouses and children of public safety officers who died in the line of duty. Despite the Department's own 1-year deadline to resolve all claims, we found that over half of all death benefit claims were pending past the 1-year mark. As a result, I introduced, and passed bi-partisan legislation aimed at creating more transparency and accountability in the administration of this program.
"Oversight of the
"I introduced bipartisan legislation which would require the
"Oversight leading to accountability
"Oversight is a critical tool
"Of course, as Chairman of the
"With respect to the Clinton investigation, some of the most problematic material discovered thus far is classified. However, as many now know, the Department had personnel on the Clinton investigation that exhibited extreme political bias against then-candidate Trump.
"My inquiry also found that the Department and
"If any one of us did that to classified information, we'd have the book thrown at us.
"The Department and
"All told, the Clinton investigation was mismanaged to the detriment of our country's faith in the
"Perhaps the most breath taking hypocrisy we identified in the Clinton investigation is that Comey and other
"
"Aside from the Clinton investigation, in 2015 I began looking into the Foreign Agents Registration Act before it was made popular by
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant. We ought to know where someone's loyalty lies.
"I held a hearing in
"We must do whatever we can do identify foreign agents spreading propaganda and lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. During the course of my investigation into violations of FARA I became aware of a group of unregistered foreign agents lobbying for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act. That law, passed by
"I discovered that those involved in the anti-Magnitsky lobbying effort were the same cast of characters who organized the now infamous
"On
"I also conducted oversight into the
"As
"I am proud of the role that the Committee has played in bringing additional details about these events into public view, both through the criminal referral of Steele and through the official release of the Committee's interview of Fusion GPS founder
"My oversight work on this Committee has also been bi-partisan. Ranking Member Feinstein and I shared equally in the questioning of witnesses involved in the
"Even though I'm Chairman of Judiciary, my oversight focus extended to health care related matters. Non-profit hospitals have been a particular concern. One non-profit chain, called Mosaic Life-Care, had been suing low-income patients for debts that should have been covered by the hospital. Tax-exempt hospitals cannot be in the business of profiting off poor people. After a 16-month inquiry, Mosaic finally changed its ways and approved debt forgiveness for over 3,000 patients. That debt forgiveness was worth approximately
"And when Iowans began contacting me about the rising cost of EpiPen, I began to investigate. In 2007 a pack of two EpiPen cost
"I asked the Health and Human Services Inspector General to look into these practices. The Inspector General found that the taxpayers may have overpaid for the EpiPen by as much as
"Eventually, Mylan settled a False Claims Act case with the
"I also investigated, with
"Nursing home social media abuse has also been a focus of mine. New technologies offer new ways for bad conduct to occur. Steps ought to be taken to stop that. After extensive communication with CMS about these issues, the government issued a guideline that made clear that compromising photos and recordings of residents is a form of abuse.
"But, we didn't stop there.
"After reading reports about spending and management problems at the
"I've also taken a keen interest in the
"During my time as Chairman of Judiciary, I've also conducted extensive oversight of our broken immigration system. For every major terror attack on American soil by a foreign national, I reviewed just how the perpetrators entered the country in the first place. What I found was that often these terrorists, and other criminals, would lie or conceal information on their visa applications to enter the country. They often knew which visas to exploit to commit their crimes, which ranged from espionage, to theft of trade secrets, to trafficking.
"The Committee has also looked into how Homeland Security and State vet refugees, monitored the mass migration caravans, reviewed hundreds of pages of visa and immigration documents, and repeatedly raised concerns with the controversial EB-5 investor visa program.
"When
Since 2016, I have written 8 letters, held 3 hearings, and introduced legislation to remedy the glaring problems that plague this program. I wait with anticipation on the EB-5 modernization and reform regulations the
"These are but a few examples of what I've tried to do right by the people of
"I look forward to continuing my oversight work both as Chairman of Finance and as a senior member of the
UPDATE: H.R.7388 – To extend the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other purposes.
Governor Cuomo Releases State Study Confirming Hudson River PCB Cleanup is Not Complete
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News