Congress girds up for return to oversight

Probes include alleged contracting abuses in Iraq and the alteration of scientific findings.

from the April 9, 2007 edition

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Individual lawmakers, too, are hiring more investigators on their personal staffs. Sen. Carl Levin (D) of Michigan, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, just hired three top investigators, aides say.

The House Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, has asked for approval to hire outside investigative attorneys to expand its capacity to review documents related to the prosecutor dismissals. Commenting on this request, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel says President Bush "opposes using $275,000 of taxpayers' money to increase the number of lawyers who can go on investigative searches and fishing expeditions."

In its first 100 days, the House also approved five bills – with veto-proof majorities – that extend whistle-blower protections to employees of federal contractors and that give the public greater access to government-held information.

One bill, which the Bush administration says it "can't support," requires a response within 20 days to requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Another, the Accountability in Contracting Act, mandates disclosure of no-bid contracts and contractor overcharges. It cleared the House with the support of all Democrats and 119 Republicans but the White House, citing "burdensome statutory requirements," opposes it.

Despite a presidential veto threat, 104 House Republicans joined all Democrats in overturning a 2001 executive order that allows presidents and vice presidents to decide which presidential records will stay sealed. All but 34 Republicans also backed a bill requiring disclosure of all who donate $200 or more to presidential libraries.

"Chances are better than even that these bills will become law," says Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy and a senior analyst at the Federation of American Scientists.

"Oversight does not have to be sensationalistic. It's a routine function that needs to be performed every day. There is no reason for it to be rude, even if it is aggressive," he adds. "For public-interest groups like mine, there's now someone to talk to in a way there hasn't been in recent years."

The move to improve congressional oversight isn't coming only from the newly empowered Democratic majority. "We're getting inundated with calls from staff across the Hill, asking for advice and training," says Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight in Washington. "It is not just Democrats. The Democrats took over, but what that has done is give a sense of freedom to Republicans who are inclined to conduct oversight."

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