[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           INSPECTORS GENERAL

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I, Senator Chuck Grassley, intend to 
object to the proceeding to H.R. 885, the Improved Financial and 
Commodity Markets Oversight and Accountability Act, and a similar 
Senate bill, S. 1354, dated July 29, 2009, for the following reasons.''
  I object to provisions regarding inspectors general in H.R. 885, and 
a similar Senate bill, S. 1354, based on my reading of the language in 
the Improved Financial and Commodity Markets Oversight and 
Accountability Act. The act is intended to require Presidential 
appointments and Senate confirmation for the following five inspectors 
general: Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC; the National 
Credit Union Administration, NCUA; the Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation, PBGC; the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, FRB; and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  In essence, the act will change dramatically the historical and 
longstanding classification of these five organizations from 
``designated federal entities'' DFE, under the original Inspector 
General Act of 1978, to Presidential appointees.
  These IGs, who are all nonpartisan civil servants, oppose H.R. 885. I 
have come to agree with their conclusion that the act will neither 
improve the independence of the five IGs nor enhance their 
accountability to the American people. Requiring that these five IGs be 
made Presidential appointees introduces the potential for partisan 
politics where none currently exists. This is especially true because 
we have an administration that is not even a year old and three IGs 
have already been dismissed. I have not yet seen a consistent policy 
reason articulated for treating these five IGs differently from other 
DFE IGs. If Congress wants to increase the independence and 
accountability of all inspectors general, there are numerous, more 
effective ways of doing so, and I would be eager to work toward that 
common goal. However, this legislation has not had a full and, complete 
hearing in the Senate, targets only five of the DFE inspectors general 
for reasons that are unclear, and does not appear to achieve its stated 
purpose.

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