[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H223-H224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NEEDED: CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, at the outset, I want to recognize the 
terrible tragedy that took place in my district this morning in the 
city of Glendale where a terrible train accident occurred.
  I recently spoke with the Glendale fire chief, who informed me that 
the death toll has now risen to 10 from that accident. The 
investigation and the search effort continues. He did report to me that 
he was very impressed with the level of coordination of the relief 
agencies on the ground, the rescue agencies on the ground. I know they 
are doing everything humanly possible to help the victims of that 
terrible crash.
  I also spoke with the mayor of Glendale this morning, very shaken 
from what he saw at the scene; and I asked him what we could do, what I 
could do, what our colleagues could do to help. He said just pray. Just 
pray.

                              {time}  1345

  I want to send my thoughts and prayers out to my Glendale and Los 
Angeles constituents and let them know that we will certainly do 
everything possible in any way, and I know my colleagues will join me 
in that.
  I would also like to express my condolences as we mourn the loss of 
the 35 marines in Iraq today. To those whose loved ones were lost in 
the helicopter crash or in action today, our hearts, our thoughts, and 
our prayers are with you.
  Over the past 2 days, we have learned that the President will be 
asking Congress for an additional $80 billion supplemental 
appropriations to finance the war in Iraq and ongoing operations in 
Afghanistan. I support giving our troops all that they need to ensure 
their safety and to enable them to perform their missions, but for the 
past few months, I have been disturbed by continued reports that have 
detailed persistent shortages of up-armored Humvees in Iraq, especially 
given the repeated assurances by administration officials that 
everything that could be done about these shortages was being done. In 
fact, it appears this was not so.
  It should not take a question from a GI in the field to spur the 
Secretary of

[[Page H224]]

Defense to address critical shortfalls of equipment. That, Mr. Speaker, 
is our job. That is our job. Congress is charged with oversight of the 
executive branch, and I am deeply concerned that we have not been 
fulfilling that critical and institutional role. As a result, our 
troops are riding into battle in vehicles that are not adequately 
protected or are jury-rigged with so-called ``hillbilly armor'' lifted 
from scrap heaps.
  Last May, Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the 
Senate Finance Committee, expressed his unease about the lack of 
oversight in Congress and admitted that legislative oversight was 
better when the Democrats controlled Congress. The majority in this 
Congress, Senator Grassley acknowledged, ``has delegated so much 
authority to the executive branch of government, and we ought to devote 
more time to oversight than we do.''
  The critical need for oversight is underscored by a new Government 
Accountability Office report outlining and updating its high-risk list. 
The new report lists 25 Federal programs that are vulnerable to fraud, 
waste, abuse, and mismanagement. Increasingly, the GAO also identified 
high-risk areas to focus on the need of broad-based transformations to 
address major economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges.
  Of the 25 government operations and programs that comprise the GAO 
list, 8 are associated with the Department of Defense, the government's 
largest department. These include inventory management, weapons systems 
and acquisition, financial and contract management, personnel security 
clearance, management of military bases and other infrastructure, and 
modernization of computer systems.
  The Comptroller General, David Walker, noted at a news conference 
yesterday that DOD's failure to rectify many of these problem areas 
results in billions of dollars of waste every year and inadequate 
accountability to the Congress and the American taxpayer.
  I am not surprised to see a large number of DOD programs on the GAO's 
list. As an assistant U.S. attorney, I prosecuted defense contractor 
fraud. It was true then that if you throw enormous amounts of money at 
any department without adequate oversight, you would get tremendous 
amounts of fraud and abuse. Given the hundreds of billions of dollars 
in the DOD's annual budget, the potential for waste, the reality of 
waste, fraud, and abuse is enormous.
  No amount of oversight and investigation will eliminate all instances 
of fraud, but that does not excuse our failure to try. I urge my 
colleagues, and especially my colleagues in the majority who alone have 
the power to call hearings, to subpoena witnesses, to take our 
oversight role more seriously. The American taxpayer and, more 
importantly, our men and women in uniform are relying upon us.

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