create a council of the inspector general on integrity integrity and efficiency and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the bill is considered read the first time the gentleman from new york mr townson the gentleman from virginia i rise in strong support of h r nine twenty eight the house is not an order committee not an order gentlemen maybe this is called the improving government accountability act to bipartisan bill it was favorably reported by the oversight committee on august second two thousand and seven with strong support from members across the political spectrum and there's a simple reason why this bill has so much support it strengthens the inspectors general who are the first line of defense against waste fraud and abuse in federal programs the last six years have given us examples of inspectors general at their best and at their worst stuart bowen the special inspector general for iraq reconstruction has uncovered fraud and saved american taxpayers hundreds of millions of ervin and richard skinner the former and current i g i g s for the department of homeland security have identified billions in wasteful spending in the new department glenn fine at the department of justice interior brian miller at the general services administration have all reported courageously on abuses within the agencies they oversee these and other i g s have fought waste fraud and abuse and save the taxpayers cumulative cumulatively billions of dollars yet there are also i g s who seem more intent on protecting their departments from political embarrassment than on doing their jobs the oversight committee our oversight committee is investigating allegations that the state department i g has blocked investigations into contract fraud in iraq and afghanistan the energy and commerce committee documented serious abuses by the former i g in the commerce department and the science committee has identified serious questions raised about the close relationship of the nasa i g to agency management this bill strengthens the good ideas by giving them greater independence under this legislation they can only be removed for cause not for doing their job and they will now have new budgetary independence at the same time the legislation in act in statute new mechanisms for holding bad i g s to account this is legislation establishes and integrity committee that will investigate allegations that i g s have buz the public trust there's been several key champions of this bill representative cooper has worked tirelessly on this issue for years and deserves our thanks for his efforts i'd also like to acknowledge the subcommittee chairman towns for his tremendous leadership in moving this legislation forward and ranking member tom davis for his commitment to strong idees and his many helpful contributions h r ninety weight would make needed improvements to the i g act and i urge all members to support it you moves its way through the subcommittee and committee process mr towns for his leadership and the chairman the full committee mr waxman for his leadership as well today we take up h r nine hundred eighty improving government accountability act two thousand and seven this legislation is intended to enhance the independence of inspector generals throughout the government to improve their ability to monitor and oversee executive branch operations since the enactment of the inspector general act of one thousand nine hundred seventy eight inspectors general throughout the government have played an integral role in a den of fine waste mismanagement and government i g s have also been instrumental in aiding congress and the executive branch to make government more efficient and effective we all agree i g should operate independently free from political interference after all those agency heads and congress often rely on i g reports to provide frank assessments of the effectiveness of federal programs however inspectors general should also be part of an agenc management structure part of a team albeit with some independence right as any fourth branch of the federal government if we separate the i g s from the day to day operations of the agencies they oversee i g s will cease to perform a constructive integrated role instead will become monday morning quarterbacks with their function solely second guessing decisions made by agencies many of the provisions in h r nine twenty eight will help to enhance the effectiveness of the i g f in overseeing federal agencies and programs i'm concerned that certain provisions of legislation go further than i'd like and isolating i g s and removing them from the agency decision making process for example during the committee consideration the legislation offered an amendment to exempt smaller agency i g s from the for cause removal provisions in the bill thereby reserving the for cause removal threshold only for cabinet level agency i g s the purpose of this amendment which was adopted i might add with the help of my friends on the other side was to strike an appropriate balance between the need to ensure independence inspector generals while at the same time preserving the president's authority over the employers and officers of the executive branch i also have concerns with the provision it's in the current bill authorizing i g s to independently submit their budget requests to congress outside of the traditional budget process my concerns with this new authority pertain more to the logistical nightmare this creates rather than any particular objection to increased i g independence after all having sixty separate budgets for individual offices accompanying the presence annual budget submission to congress will only add unnecessary confusion to the already confusing federal budget process so when members get the president's budget under the way the law is currently written they get the federal budget is submitted by the president and then sixty separate question my g s now i can't offer an amendment which i'm hopeful the other side will accept which goes at least part of the way toward addressing the legitimate concerns raised by the administration but getting to the point that the author of this bill wanted to get as well in closing i believe the underlying legislation improves the laws governing our i g s i think that some additional changes need to be made as it moves forward but i very much appreciate mr cooper's efforts on this bill and his nine twenty eight the improving government accountability act focused on the important role of the inspector general and the viable independent oversight within federal agencies by investigating and reporting waste fraud and abuse to both agency leaders and to the tongueless expected general to play a critical role in maintaining checks and balances in the federal government when congress created the inspector general nearly thirty years ago the idea that having independent officials inside the federal agency would help detect and prevent wasteful spending and mismanagement this concept had been a  investigations by ids have resulted in the recovery of billions of dollars from companies and individuals who defrauded the federal government these investigations have led to thousands of criminal prosecutions contractor debarment and employees suspension and in some instances the dismissals and some of the work of i g s to expose criminal abuse of action in government has gone a long way to create the cleaner and more efficient government the tax paying public expects and deserves of course even the best systems need some improvement from time to time and that is the reason for this bill today to effectively carry out the mission inspectors general must be independent and objective which requires that they be insulated from the improper management and political pressure to preserve the credibility of the asas inspector general must also perform their duties with integrity and apply the same standards of conduct and accountability to themselves as they apply to the eighty's the that they audit and investigate and reason here is there have been several episodes which raise questions about the independence and accountability of i g s these episodes have been well documented in hearing of the oversight committee as well as other standing committees of the house and some is that i g s who are seen as too aggressive in pursuing ways at the agencies had their budget cut or were threatened with this missile and other cases allergies to abuse their authority remain in africa and part because there were no and the building creases the rank and pay of deeds as well this is a strong bill and a necessary bill passing this bill will send a message to congress and that is the work of the inspector general and the oversight they provide i reserve the balance of my tough gentleman virginia from virginia thank you mr chairman let me just talk first of all about what the legislation does it establishes a seven year term of office for the more than sixty inspector generals in the federal government this gives them continuity from administration to administration so they're not political lackeys they are professionals it limits the president's authority to remove a senate confirmed i g and that's that's about half of them except on certain grounds for example permanent incapacity inefficiency neglect of duty mouth eason's conviction of a felony or conduct involving moral turpitude that gives the i g f independence from pressure from the appointing administration at the smaller agencies to a different standard applies there they can be removed and i g can be removed but it will require a thirty day advance notification to congress before an agency head an executive order establishing the council of the inspector general's on integrity and efficiency this is a coordinating council a federal i g s as well as an integrity committee to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by i g s and unfortunately we see that these people are human beings as well it increases the salary of i g s and prohibits i g s from receiving bonuses it and it enhances i g power by granting limited personnel authority expanded subpoena authority increased ability to deputize i g agents it strengthens the authority to conduct investigations on her sworn testimony it requires congressional notification of agency non cooperation and it expands i g ability to pursue false claims and recoup losses resulting from fraud now the administration has issued a negative statement  policy on this for two reasons one they don't like the limitation on the president's authority to remove executive branch officials on that i think we have gone overboard working together both parties to try to put reasonable limitations but at the same time maintaining a higher level of independence for i g s and to find other levels and i think institutionally as members of this house the changes in this bill i think are worth supporting and i would oppose the administration that their second concern is the independence submission of the i g s budgets to congress and we are offering an amendment to try to clarify that which i'll speak on later once again this legislation was introduced by representative jim cooper from tennessee in february it was approved by our committee by a voice  august in addition to a substitute offered by representative cooper which made a number of technical changes the committee did adopt an amendment offered by me to limit the application removal for cause in a way i think we were all comfortable with so i think as we proceed again i want to thank all the do a better job for the federal taxpayer that's what this is all about making government work better if there's ever been a good government has or this is it i also want to thank the full committee chairman mr waxman who is so helpful in so many ways and the even her predecessor and tim sadly this good government measure has taken years to come to the floor and to be passed by the house of representatives but now we're making progress and the federal taxpayer will benefit as a result now a lot of us say this is such a good government measure that some fifty eight i g s scattered out to federal government they are the fiscal watchdogs for the taxpayer they are the first line of defense against fraud waste and mismanagement in federal government these i g s and their staff say many many times more money than their salary calls for their benefit calls these are the folks who see the fraud first and catch it before it gets too big i'll give you an example in today's washington post there's a new j s study that comes out that says and i quote federal officials too often flying first and business class g a o fin their leg room and your tax dollars the g a o has found that one hundred forty six million dollars were spent just in the last year for improper federal first class and business travel they go through agency after agency naming executives who've abused the federal credit card this is an outrage now by federal standards this is a relatively small outrage but this is the sort of stuff that needs to be caught and caught early and this is also why we need inspector general independent because they're not going to be popular when they point out to their agency head or other senior officials in federal government that they should have been flying first class position because that's not a popular thing to do one of the folks here was caught flying his entire family of eight from washington d c to eastern europe first class that's wrong and i'm sure the federal executive wanted to take his whole family first class but these are federal tax dollars at stake so this is a very important bill it's very important to update the original i g legislation that's been on the books since nineteen seventy eight problems have occurred since then and now we'll fix those problems and it's been noted here today by the ranking member and i appreciate his courage in opposing the administration veto on this the veto threat of sap has been issued a statement of administration policy and in my opinion at least the grounds for this threat and veto are remarkably flimsy so i hope that the members listening back in their offices and their staffs particularly across the aisle will pay close attention to the reasons that the ministrations says that objects of this reform legislation and to figure out whether those reasons are really valid there are two fundamental grounds first of all they object to for cause of dismissal i think perhaps the bush administration feels somehow this is aimed at them it's not everyone knows by the time this legislation is fully administered the next administration will be in place and this legislation is really designed to help all administrations whatever their political stripe so it's very important to realize that the four calls the language that the administration rejects so has already been removed at the urging of the ranking member due to his excellent amendment  committee for half of the i g agencies it only remains for the cabinet level agencies why because those folks should have a seven year term and have full political independence so that they can make the tough calls even if it means denying a cabinet secretary first class airfare to europe they need independence the second rounds of the administration is pose for objecting to this legislation is they shouldn't have separate budget submissions now sit down eating lunch with mike one of my colleagues a few minutes ago and he had the mistaken notion that somehow this would be an entire separate budget for the entire agency that's not true this is just the i g s own budget for the i g and his or her staff so that's a is a pretty flimsy ground for objecting to this legislation so i would urge all members to take a close look this is good government legislation this will save the taxpayer billions of dollars according to the committee and report just last year i g recommendations saved nine point nine billion dollars in auto recommendations and six point eight billion dollars in investigative recoveries that's fifteen billion dollars plus for the federal taxpayer we need to be saving much more money like this and in this bill can do it thank you mr chairman then with the gentleman who just from virginia how much time do i have remaining gentlemen has twenty three and a half minutes remaining two minutes the gentleman from connecticut m mr cooper i'm sorry mr cooper i want to thank mr cooper i was taking mr tanner yesterday so i want to thank mr cooper this is today's neuro we've seen a nice bipartisan bill coming to the floor of the house and i want to thank mr cooper for his reaching out to both sides the aisle and for his good work over many many years on just substantive issues like this i want to say as well that the g a o which was the government accounting office now the government accountability office and the inspector generals have done excellent jobs they we have turned to them particularly in our government form committee continually but i think this truly does strengthen the bill and i think mr towns who has been a long time member of the committee for marshalling this important bill through the bottom line for me is inspector generals already do a good job of very good job except in one or two places where they feel a little too encumbered by the management to be as independent as we would like them to be this guarantees that every department will be a bit more independent and all the reasons that my ranking member who has been so instrumental in legislation like this and helpful in bringing this bill out all the reasons he pointed out i just will emphasize though the one that i like the best is the independence of this office thank you j thank gentlemen this mr speaker i rise today in strong support of h r nine twenty eight the improving government accountability act because america's founders were freshly freed from the shackles of british oppression when they formed this nation safeguards against the consolidation of power into the hands of the few can be found everywhere in the constitution beginning with article one two hundred twenty years later we still must strive for those checks and balances in order to to form the more perfect union the founding fathers envisioned for nearly thirty years one thousand nine hundred seventy eight's inspector general act provided much of the oversight required for our government to function as the forefathers imagined but today some inspector general's inspectors general would rather impede oversight than conduct it what else should we expect when we have no protections from the protectors we have unaccountable appointees in nearly every executive department and agency and many serve not to preserve prevent corruption but to preserve it these are not cases of individuals merely failing to fulfill their job descriptions but actually instigating the waste fraud and abuse the american people pay them to ward off these unchecked appointees have hindered valid investigations siphon tax dollars for personal pleasures and refuse to uphold accountability for fellow political appointees honest civil servants who have dedicated their lives to improving our government are victims of intimidation threats and terminations and despite these blatant offenses our hands are tied there is no line of defense for the american people we've gone far astray from the noble aims of this republic and let me be clear this is not a simple case of a few bad apples the abuses within the inspectors general's offices were invited by the cracks in a failing structure and they will continue to grow unless we in this body take steps to fix the crumbling construction the improving government accountability act begins t correct these weaknesses and in so doing fulfills the intent of the inspector general act of one thousand nine hundred seventy eight and once again uphold the integrity of this nation's proud creation the founders were very clear from the first article of the constitution in which they granted all legislative powers not to an executive with a consolidated power but to the congress strongly urge my colleagues to join me in utilizing the authority to preserve the checks and balances that our constitutions crafters held so dear  the president did appoint in the senate that confirms we need to look for more accounts there has been frankly a we've seen a surge of people coming out of the u s attorney's offices and they make this more adversarial that it needs to a good idea is going to work with their agency to identify waste fraud and abuse not enter into a gotcha mentality for government to work you need them all working together you need an independent i g there's no question about that but the person in that office ought to be right there with the agency had making sure that things work that doesn't always happen and i don't think we could write any law that makes that happen that's could depend on the goodwill of the people the agency heads and the i g s the working together but i think this legislation goes a long way toward establishing that independence given the i authority that they need but the rest is going to up to the appointing a president the confirming senate to get the right people in these jobs are professionals who want to be a part of government making it work efficiently for the taxpayer are your back gentleman from virginia back the gentleman from new york i think this legislation is a giant step in the right direction i would like to thank the chairman of the full committee  thank congressman davis ranking member i'd like to thank the subcommittee the congress and bilbray from california and of course i would like to thank mr cooper for all of his work on this legislation and i'd like to thank the staff all their work in terms of making certain that we were able to come today i want to thank the sponsors of all of this totally for this bill mr cooper and our colleagues across the aisle have been very open to getting input and making changes to this bill this is what the legislative process is all about exchanging ideas sharing information and trying to improve the legislation i think the in result of this bill that will increase the office of inspector generals and give them the kind of independence that they need to be able to do the fishing work that is so required i am excited about the possibilities of course and i encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation and on that note mr chairman i yield back the manuals back all time for general debate is expired pursuant to the rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute rule and shall be considered read no amendment to the committee amendment is in order except those printed in house report one ten three fifty eight each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report shall be considered read shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and then up on and of the amendment shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question it is now in order to consider amendment number one printed in house report one ten dash three fifty eight for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise thank you mr chairman i have an amendment at the desk the clerk will designate the amendment and then that number line printing house report line ten at three fifty eight offered by mr conyers of michigan pursuant to house resolution seven zero one the gentleman from michigan mr conyers and a member oppose each will control five minutes the chair recognizes the power to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by attorneys in that department and so i put forward to the committee a  commonsense proposal that merely gives the inspector general the tools that he or she may need to root out and report on waste fraud and abuse whether we have a democratic or republican administration i believe we should have strong and vigorous oversight of the department of justice at present however the department of justice inspector general is limited in its ability to investigate allegations of misconduct instead present law to many the surprise of many requires that all our geishas of wrongdoing by the department of justice attorneys be investigated not by the inspector general by the department's office  professional responsibility the department's inspector general should have the same power inspector generals have throughout the government to investigate without limitation any and all allegations of wrongdoing that arise in that department and so the office of professional responsibility is supervised by the attorney general it is absolutely contrary to human experience to believe that the counsel to the office of professional responsibility can aggressively investigate them it's vital that investigations of these officials and other high level officials in the department be conducted by the statutorily independent inspector general who's required to be confirmed by the united states senate that's the thrust of the idea i propose in this first amendment and i reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves the gentleman from virginia is recognize committee and i congressman cooper and congressman towns are for all their work and our ranking member on the committee on the on the bill but mr chairman i rise in opposition to the and then it's unfortunate and a bill that has been worked on by both sides that well that we have an amendment now that i think is going to be somewhat divisive but i believe it may arise at the end then it may arise from the u s attorney's investigation that consumes much of our time earlier in this session to clear the timeline on the judiciary committee that investigation showed no wrongdoing in the dismissal of u s attorneys and no undermining of the institution of the department of justice as time drags on though people wonder why did we spend so much time on this issue maybe the majority feel the need to show some results and perhaps that's why we have this amendment before us today but the u s attorney's investigation did not show any need to realign the responsibilities of the office of professional responsibility and the office of the inspector general it certainly did not show that zero i d should swallow up oprah which would be the effective result of the members before us this afternoon on the contrary these offices have quietly gone about their investigative activities and we have seen no great difficulties arise from their exercise of their duties but apart from the u s attorney investigation the m m a clearly is unwise for other reasons both o p r and r y g are needed in their current structure are was established to ensure the department of justice thousands of attorneys follow all applicable professional rules of conduct oh i g performs an equally critical but very different function of pursuing investigations into general criminal wrongdoing and general administrative misconduct by the department this important distinction calls for two different offices to work on these two issues as conferees underscored when congress created the office of inspector general in the one nine hundred eighty quote should render judgments on the exercise of prosecutorial or litigated discretion in a particular case or controversy unless a unique set of circumstances circumstances dictate otherwise the conferees intend that reviews of such prosecut prosecutorial or other litigated discretion in a particular case are controversy is an appropriate role for and may be delegated by the attorney general close quote the attorney general has delegated that authority to open are no basis exists to question this policy today unlike oh i g o p r's staff happen live entirely by career lawyers political background cannot be considered when appointing anyone to a position in the office of professional responsibility thousands of current and former department lawyers can attest that the office's independence is undisputed and that the office of professional responsibility has never allowed the manner in which it investigates or the results it reaches to be influenced by a new political point in the department and attorney general or deputy attorney general being experience knows this office can be relied upon to make the hard calls and find attorney misconduct when it's occurred and let me enabling the department of justice to take a proper disciplinary action i would call the house's attention again to the need for legislation to address serious crime issues republicans have introduced those bills but they continue to languish responsible citizens don't want to hear that their loved ones or their neighbors were hurt or killed because the majority in congress could not bear to solve the nation's problems with the opposing party solutions or to turn away from the hunt for political victims mr chairman i reserve the balance of our time gentleman from ohio reserves john from michigan chairman could you advise us how much time remains on each side a gentleman from michigan has two and a half minutes remaining the gentleman from ohio has one and a half minute remaining gentleman from authority to examine a broad range of issues in that department considering all all the problems that congress investigations have recently uncovered and i think that this is a very timely amendment and i really feel that we should the office of professional responsibility is accountable to the attorney general and when we're investigating the u s assistant attorney or attorneys in the department of justice he's investigating his own shot the second point is that their inspection their investigations are confidential  the department of the inspector general the i g the inspector general is a requires a public disclosure of what he found so this isn't a matter of trying to justify anything about the u s attorney's action i'd like my good friend from ohio to know that this is something that has been discuss d the inspector general for d o j glenn fine is testified before the senate homeland committee and made it very clear that these matters of public answers that require weeks reports that our institutional should by all means go through this route rather than be shunted off to a private investigator get torey committee inside department of justice it's it's an anomaly that we hope to correct it doesn't reflect poorly on anybody better fact this will be gentleman's time has expired the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan those in favor will please say aye those opposed please say no in the opinion of the chair the i may have it the amendment for what purpose consume is currently drafted the improving government accountability act would authorize inspectors general throughout the government that's more than sixty of these offices exists to directly submit their budget requests to congress by doing so this legislation would circumvent the longstanding process under which president submit to the racin budget proposal on behalf of the executive branch while i understand the sponsors intent in authorizing independent budget submissions by i g s i have concerns with the way the authorities currently constructed our concerns pertain more to the logistical nightmare than any particular objection to increased i g independence first of all according to the congressional research service no other offices or agencies within the executive branch currently are authorized by statute to independently submit their budgets to congress h r nine twenty eight would not simply make an exception for one uniquely situated office it would make an exception for all of the more than sixty i g offices currently in government in other words the president's annual budget would be accompanied by sixty separate i g budgets this is inefficient disorganized and unproductive second i'm concerned authorizing i g s to submit their budgets independently to congress we are encouraging them to submit their wish lists to congress rather than submitting budgets which take into account the limited resources that are available to agencies it doesn't take an active imagination to envision the increased government spending that this would cause after all if an i g submitted its wish list to congress will members of congress have the stomach to appropriate an amount less than an i g request if we do we could be painted as anti oversight a label none of us are interested in because of these concerns i have filed an amendment proposing an alternative approach to the budget issue this amendment would authorize inspector generals to notify congress if the budget request submitted by the agency head would substantially inhibit the i g s ability to perform his or her duties and the president would be required to include in his budget submission the original amount requested by each i g this approach would give additional information to congress which is the submit their own budget requests to congress outside of the traditional federal budget process i think there's some members a reasonable compromise which carefully balances the need for i g independence with the need for a streamlined budget authority we have enough problems and act in the federal budget every year we don't need to create sixty new ones i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and i would reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves for what purpose does the gentleman from new york is jim and i would like to claim the time in opposition this  i as i understand it under your amendment that gentleman from virginia each inspector general's appropriations requests as originally made to his or her agency head would be noted in the president's budget submission to congress is that correct it is you know read i will you and you know it from here and let me just add i think that was the intent of the legislation to make sure that the iraqis weren't stifled and that they get the congress get their eyes on that original to expose with i g s or having the budget slashed in retaliation of their investigations i look forward to working with you as this bill moves through the legislative process to clarify the language of the amendment to ensure aye those opposed please say no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it the amendment is adopted it is now in order to consider amendment number three printed in the house report one ten dash three fifty eight for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina arise i haven't a member of the disk the court will designate the amendment and then number three printed in house report number one three fifty eight offered by mr miller of north carolina pursuant house resolution seven zero one the gentleman from north carolina mr miller and a member of post each will control five minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina thank you mr chairman over the last year graciously in discussions of this legislation and i commend them for their work on this legislation the purpose of this amendment is to smooth the transition between the all wall and the new and to make sure that we do not disrupt some of the work independent that they can act can act without fear of political reprisal and bias to and to accomplish that by sabotaging a set term this amendment accomplishes other purposes bickley consistent with that overall goal of the legislation first it establishes the same qualifications for the selection of inspector generals of the designated federal agencies that are not subject to confirmation by the other body there is no reason that there should be any different politicians and this brings the qualifications for those inspector general into line with the with the qualifications of those confirmed by the other body the second amendment expansive grounds for the removal of inspector generals with criteria that the inspector generals themselves the i g f themselves have agreed to should be the basis for removal and would not undermine their independence by being a threat to their independence of removal for improper grounds  twelve nine nine three which would no longer be in effect on this legislation to maintain certain policies and procedures at our working well and make sure that there is not a gap when there are no procedures in place  and to make sure that that we will not have to recreate those procedures under the new legislation it also directs the the new counsel the new inspectors general counsel to incorporate as much of the established policies that are working  b to continue to provide the inspector general counsel with the administrative support that p c i e now has mr chairman i reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves congratulate my friend the gentleman from north carolina because he has been an excellent member of the spotty for some time and his work on the science committee has contributed greatly to the work of this body i'm particularly grateful for his work on the i g issue and i want to make it crystal clear to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that the gentleman's amendment essentially makes it easier to fire i g s and i support that i think the gentleman's reasoning is sound and i also think it's very important that members on the other side they realize that this largely should eliminate the president's veto threat because the primary grounds in the statement of administration policy for opposing this bill is that i g s may be too hard to fire while the gentleman's helpful amendment adds additional grounds that makes it easier to get rid of errant i g s if they knowingly violate a law rule or regulation if they're guilty of gross mismanagement gross waste of funds or abuse of authority so that should obviate the administration's objections to this bill so i hope that by accepting the gentleman's amount from north carolina we can not only promote the cause of good government we can also get the folks you know for this it makes clear that the bill is not intended to protect poorly performing i g s from removal there has was some question whether an i g who manage his office so poorly that it caused most of the senior career staff to quit and then id would still be there at least this amendment addresses that issue as well but adding gross mismanagement and gross waste of funds and abuse of authority as grounds for removal this amendment clarifies that and i g who is not an effective leader can be removed for that reason we also support the technical and procedural changes that mr miller has included in this amendment this is a very very good amendment and i hope that it has support coming from both sides of the out because this is amendment gentlemen simon on our due thank you and on that note are you back all time having expired the question is on the men offered by the gentleman from north carolina those in favor will please say i suppose please say no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it the amendment is adopted it is now in or consider amendment number four printed in house report number one ten dash three fifty eight for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina arise i have an amendment the desk clerk will designate the amendment and then that number for a printed in house report number one  fifty eight off or kind mr miller of north carolina pursuant to house resolution seven zero one the gentleman from north carolina mr miller and a member of post each will control five minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina thank you mr chairman this amendment would require the counsel of the inspector general on integrity in the fish and c to appoint a committee of inspectors general to review the integrity the experience the reputation all of the qualifications of anyone the president appoints to serve as an inspector general and to provide a report of that evaluation to the other body to the relevant committee of the other body before any confirmation hearings that provides a similar procedure for agency heads who says that to appoint inspector general without confirmation by the other body the member does not create any new bureaucracy it it uses an existing office or an office it will exist under this legislation it doesn't the evaluation of that committee is not binding in any way it simply is an unbiased informed by way ssion that would be helpful to the other body in their considerate consideration of confirmation of any anyone appointed as an inspector general to service inspector general just as he american bar association's evaluations on the qualifications of judicial nominees are helpful in confirmation  mr chairman most presidential appointments are policy positions for which loyalty to the president is a proper consideration in fact it is a necessity it is requirement and the other body has traditionally deferred to the president judgment in comp imation if the president wants to appoint a political operative if the president wants to appoint some political poo bah was worthless otherwise unemployed will brother in law the other body usually goes along so the president can have his own people in policy positions as the debate on this bill has made very clear inspector generals are not jobs like that inspector generals are not the president's people they are to be watchdogs  who report both to the agency head and to congress they are not the presence people i g s are not the presence people there are people to congress needs to rely on the work of an g s in our oversight duties i g s our congress as people ask much as they are the presence of people the statute says now that i g s should be objective and independent and they are to be appointed without regard to political affiliation in soley on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability  accounting all running financial analysis law management and management analysis public administration or investigation in other words mr chairman i g s can't just be some pooh bahs worthless brother in law this amendment provides the other body with an informed evaluation of the integrity and qualifications of any potential oggi to assure that i g s are up to the job they understand what their job is there to identify waste fraud abuse or general inefficiency and report to the agency to the agency head into congress without fear or favor g s must report with rigorous honesty even if their reports calls political embarrass especially when the report calls political embarrassment this amendment will return to an earlier tradition of consulting well regarded i g before an appointment of an i g for suggestions of who would be good for that  one of the problems that we have seen is that some recent idea appointees have had far more experience in politics than they have had in investigating and ordering the council created by this amendment is advisory but it will provide an independent evaluation of where the a candidate for appointment has a professional background and experience to succeed in the i g role this information should be valuable to the president to the senate as they feel id vacances mr chairman i think this is a fine amendment and i'm hoping that both sides of the aisle will support it and this is what stripping legislation is all about dialogue on both sides and supporting so i'm hoping that this imma get a strong strong vote it's a good myself such time as i may consume first i'd like to thank congressman cooper for his leadership on this bill and for his constant effort to promote accountability and transparency in the federal government i also want to thank chairman towns and chairman waxman for moving this legislation through committee and for their support of my amendment i rise today to offer an amendment to save the taxpayers money by increasing transparency accountability and oversight of federal agencies spending practices we all know that the u s government spends too much of our constituents hard earned taxes in ways that are not always the most efficient manner for too long federal agency spending has been left unchecked with little public scrutiny on the findings of the inspectors general investigations it is time to shine some light on how the government is spending your money when the inspector general act of one thousand nine hundred eighty eight became law the internet did not exist and people  not have personal computers now thirty years later the internet has grown into one of the many mediums where americans receive information and it is time that we bring this law up to date that the american people and the media will be able to easily find audit and reports that inspectors general issue and for americans to have the ability to anonymously report waste fraud and abuse that may be occurring in the federal government inspectors general are an important part of every federal agency and i'm pleased that this legislation decrease the amount of waste of taxpayer dollars in two thousand and six the work by inspector generals resulted in nine point nine billion in potential savings from audit recommendations six point eight billion in investigative recoveries sixty five hundred indictments and criminal information and eighty four thousand successful prosecutions and seven thousand three hundred suspensions or departments this legislation will yield even more savings to the american people by allowing inspectors general to be more independent and accountable mr speaker my amendment simply requires inspector general inspectors general to do something that is very commonplace in the twenty first century making information easily accessible online my amendment would require the i g of each agency to post within one day after being made publicly available to all reports an audit on the website of the office of inspector general the report or audit must be easily accessible and include a summary of the findings of the i g the i g of each agency must provide a service on their website to allow individuals to receive information when a new auditor or report is made available on their website and the i g of each agency must establish a process that allows individuals to anonymously report waste fraud and abuse that may be occurring in the federal agency it is important to remember that the american people voted for change last november they voted for more accountability more fiscal responsibility and for a new congress to clean up washington my commitment to my constituents is that i will offer a transparent and accountable office to them i have one of a handful of members in the house to post my public schedule online every day and was one of the first next to mr cooper to post our list of earmark requests on line i do this because i have found that it allows my constituents more from a sion which allows me to better better represent them here in washington with a nine trillion dollars debt it is clear that the federal government spends too much the fiscal year two thousand and eight budget is two point nine trillion and if that is indeed what we will spend then it is important that the money is spent responsibly my upstate new york constituents pay too much in taxes to washington and it is insult to them when the federal government squanders their hard earned money this amendment will save taxpayers money increase government oversight and accountability and promote transparency in government i urge all my colleagues  g s to make public reports in order to conducted by the inspector general immediately available on their websites it would require links for individuals interested in reporting waste fraud and abuse to the extent any of this is not currently being done by agencies  fully supportive of congress requiring such information to be made available in order to increase this transparency of federal government operations we're prepared to support the amendment does general build a one minute to my friend from new york for it and there's no question about it my colleague from new york definitely improves the legislation and therefore i'm in total support of it and will encourage my colleagues to do likewise gentleman yells back the gentle lady amendment is adopted the clause six of the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number one printed in house report one tended to be fifty eight by the gentleman from michigan mr conyers on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the eyes prevailed by voice vote the clerk will read designate the amendment amendment number one printed in house report number one thousand and three fifty eight offered by mr conyers of michigan a recorded vote has been requested those in support of the requests for a recorded vote will rise and be