[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12956-12958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                             FBI OVERSIGHT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I want to discuss with my colleagues the 
issue of the Federal Bureau of Investigation oversight, and how we can 
help the Bureau regain the trust and confidence of the American people.
  First, I find it very pleasant today to commend Attorney General 
Ashcroft for something he did. He announced today action to enlarge the 
jurisdiction of the Office of Inspector General of the Justice 
Department so that that Office of Inspector General would be able to 
work with the FBI and the DEA on its own initiative, without jumping 
through a lot of hoops which were some hoops that were put in place in 
the previous administration, which, in a sense, put the FBI and the DEA 
out of bounds from things that you would expect an inspector general of 
a department to be looking into.
  So, effective immediately, then, the inspector general will have 
primary jurisdiction over allegations of misconduct against employees 
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. 
This is an important and encouraging step towards overall FBI reform, 
one which I hope will help to solve the problems that the FBI has with 
their management culture.
  Previous to this, the inspector general could not initiate an 
investigation within the FBI, or the Drug Enforcement Agency, without 
the express permission from the Deputy Attorney General. Contrariwise, 
in most other Departments, the inspector general can do any 
investigation they want to, unimpeded in any way. It is very important 
for the inspector general to have that freedom to function. They are 
not only an agent for the Cabinet Department head, but they are also an 
agent of the Congress because they can report directly to the Congress. 
It is essential to have that type of oversight, that type of policing 
to ferret out wrongdoing.
  I have been saying for many years that the FBI should not be allowed 
to police itself, and I am encouraged by this new step taken today 
towards the establishment of a free and independent oversight entity 
which now, truly, the Department of Justice inspector general will be.

[[Page 12957]]

  I am also pleased to see as part of this order that the Attorney 
General has enhanced whistleblower protection for FBI employees who 
come forward with protected disclosures. As an author of legislation 
that is on the books now for whistleblower protection, the last time we 
enhanced the protection for whistleblowers there was just enough 
sympathy--and unjustified sympathy--within this body for the FBI that 
somehow the FBI could have a separate set of regulations just for 
whistleblowers within the FBI. As a result, whistleblowers within the 
FBI have not had the same amount of protection that whistleblowers in 
any other agency of the Federal Government might have. So this will 
also help in that direction. I thank the Attorney General for that.
  Today, then, following up on this action of the Attorney General, I 
have forwarded a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, commending him on 
these steps, and also request that his office provide me with 
additional details regarding how the various investigative and audit 
entities within the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the DEA are to 
be administered and organized.
  Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to meet with FBI Director 
nominee Robert Mueller. I discussed with Robert Mueller several 
concerns that I have with how the Bureau has been managed over the past 
several years. I also discussed with Mr. Mueller my views on the type 
of leadership that I think the FBI needs.
  We have a once-every-10-year opportunity to find someone who can fix 
the problems inherent in the management culture at the Bureau because 
that appointment comes up for a 10-year length of time. I want to make 
sure, during this once-in-a-10-year opportunity, Mr. Mueller 
understands my concerns.
  Part of our discussion concerned the need for strengthening FBI 
oversight, both on the part of the executive branch, along the lines of 
what I have been saying about the inspector general, but also from the 
Congress--oversight, constitutional oversight over the executive branch 
agencies.
  Without asking Mr. Mueller to comment on pending legislation, I 
mentioned to Mr. Mueller I am working on a bill to permanently extend 
by statute the jurisdiction that was given today by the Attorney 
General to the Department of Justice inspector general, so that some 
future Attorney General cannot put impediments in the way of the 
inspector general investigating things within the FBI. I encourage Mr. 
Mueller, should he be confirmed, to make it a priority to ensure that 
he and the FBI will cooperate fully with whatever oversight entity is 
in place.
  I also discussed with Mr. Mueller the need for increased 
whistleblower protection for FBI employees. Over the years the FBI has 
been notorious for retaliating against those who would expose the types 
of waste, fraud, and abuse in cases that have now become synonymous 
with a culture of arrogance within the FBI. These are cases such as 
Ruby Ridge, Waco, the TWA-800 investigation, the FBI crime lab 
investigation, Richard Jewell, Wen Ho Lee, Robert Hanssen, and most 
recently the Oklahoma bombing investigation in the McVeigh case.
  I will be introducing legislation that will provide statutory 
protection for FBI whistleblowers to overcome the shortcomings of the 
legislation that was signed by President Bush in 1989. Those exemptions 
that were made from the FBI need to be taken out so the whistleblowers 
in the FBI have the same protection as whistleblowers in any other 
agency of Government. I hope the new Director will not only support 
this important reform but will work to ensure these important reforms 
are communicated clearly throughout the entire Bureau.
  I believe that in order to regain the trust and confidence of the 
American people, the FBI must be open and fully responsive to differing 
points of view within its own ranks. More importantly, employees must 
be able to present these opinions in an atmosphere that is free of 
retaliation that happens so often against people whom we call 
whistleblowers.
  Basically, within any organization there is a great deal of peer 
pressure to go along to get along. But that peer pressure also has the 
capability of covering up wrongdoing and bad administration. That is 
why the process of people telling the truth and coming out in the open 
is so important.
  Without this freedom, the FBI will only continue to suppress and 
marginalize those who speak out, and things will go on as they have for 
so long. That is not good. That is what has brought about a culture of 
arrogance--of believing within the FBI that the FBI can do no wrong.
  Perhaps the greatest example of this type of retaliation against a 
whistleblower occurred in an investigation I made involving a 
whistleblower by the name of Dr. Fred Whitehurst. You may remember that 
when Dr. Whitehurst came forward with proof of abusive practices at the 
FBI crime lab, he was shamelessly discredited by senior FBI officials. 
An inspector general investigation--after going through all of those 
hoops I talked about--later supported the assertions made by Dr. 
Whitehurst. In an effort to get back his good name, Dr. Whitehurst won 
a settlement that ended up costing the American taxpayers $1 million.
  There is something wrong when a whistleblower comes forward and he is 
not listened to, and he has to sue, and it costs the taxpayers $1 
million to settle. He should have been listened to in the first 
instance.
  We want to encourage an environment within all government agencies, 
but particularly the FBI, that wrongdoing is not covered up; that 
people who whistleblow aren't treated like a skunk at a picnic on a 
Sunday afternoon, that they are held up as somebody who ought to be 
honored rather than somebody who ought to be suppressed.
  I want to make sure to mention that the comments I make about the FBI 
today, though, should in no way minimize the great sacrifices made 
every day by hard-working FBI agents and support personnel. These men 
and women serve their nation proudly. They deserve an organization that 
has integrity and credibility.
  The FBI management system is broken. This does a real disservice to 
the hard-working agents on the street. When the FBI does what they are 
set up to do--to seek the truth and let the truth convict--they do 
their job right. But when there is an effort to cover up something that 
has gone wrong and people are more concerned about the headlines and 
the public relations of the organization as opposed to the fundamentals 
of law enforcement--that is, these cases and a lot of others I have 
already listed--that is when their agency gets in trouble and loses 
credit.
  In regard to these agents who do their work and do it right and 
because of this management culture that must be changed by the new 
Director, I have asked the Attorney General to provide me with 
information regarding the extent to which the new FBI Director will be 
able to institute the departmentwide reforms and to make staffing 
changes, including changes at the senior staff and management level.
  I believe that a new FBI Director will only have a certain period of 
time--maybe a couple of months--in which he can make real change. In 
order for the new Director to take advantage of that time, he must be 
afforded maximum flexibility for staffing and policy setting.
  I also agree that we have not done enough in Congress. I am not 
putting the blame just on the Department of Justice and the FBI. We 
have a constitutional responsibility of oversight. We spend all of our 
time legislating, giving speeches, passing laws, voting, and offering 
amendments. That is what most people think being a Congressman is all 
about. But also, once laws are passed, the checks and balances of our 
Constitution require that we do our constitutional job of oversight; 
that is, to see that the laws are faithfully executed and that money 
spent appropriated by Congress is spent within the intent of Congress 
and that the law is enforced within the intent of Congress.
  Congress does not do a good enough job. For too long we have seen 
mishap after mishap occur, with the end result being more money and 
more jurisdiction for the FBI. The Director of the

[[Page 12958]]

FBI comes up to Capitol Hill, everybody sees the Director of FBI, and 
they just melt. The Director of the FBI says a couple of mea culpas and 
walks out of here with a nice pat on the back, and probably a bigger 
appropriation.
  That is not oversight. That is just business as usual. One way this 
can be improved is through the creation of a subcommittee within the 
Committee on the Judiciary that would be directly responsible for FBI 
oversight.
  We need to help the FBI change the kind of culture that places image 
and publicity before basics and fundamentals. We need to help the FBI 
change the kind of culture that holds press conferences in high-profile 
cases before the investigation is complete and all the facts are in, 
and when all the facts are in, then the FBI has egg on its face.
  Yes, the American people deserve the kind of agency that won't make 
the kind of mistakes the FBI has made in the Wen Ho Lee and the 
Atlantic Olympic bombing case, and the Waco case and the Ruby Ridge 
case. But, more importantly, the American people deserve an agency that 
is honest and forthright about their errors; in other words, very 
transparent.
  As one of our Supreme Court Justices said 80 or 100 years ago, the 
best disinfectant is sunshine. Let the Sun shine in and there won't be 
mold. That is transparency. That is the way the American Government 
ought to operate.
  I look forward to getting down to the business of helping the FBI and 
its next Director regain the trust and confidence of the American 
people.
  I yield the floor. I thank the Presiding Officer for waiting for me 
to speak tonight.

                          ____________________