[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  OIG PROTESTS ITS INNOCENCE TOO MUCH

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, today 6 months after meeting with Members of 
Congress and with the staff of OIG of Homeland Security about Ramos and 
Compean, Richard Skinner of the Office of the Inspector General is now 
saying his staff did not lie to Members of Congress, but his staff was 
just mistaken about certain facts when it briefed us.
  He also is saying the meeting was confidential. I am sure the OIG 
staff wishes it had been since the staff misled Congress on what 
occurred at the border.
  Is Skinner saying it is okay to mislead Congress in a confidential 
meeting? Sounds like it to me. The meeting was only confidential in the 
fantasy world of OIG. And how would Skinner know; he wasn't even there.
  His staff not only told Congress inaccurate things about the case, 
they said they have the documents to prove their assertions. Even after 
repeatedly asking for such documents, they were never produced. Why? 
Because they don't exist.
  Now that the transcript of the trial is completed, we find out about 
the inaccurate statements of OIG to Congress. OIG would do well to 
simply tell the truth and get accurate information in public and 
private rather than use slick Madison Avenue press releases to justify 
their misstatements to Congress.
  And that's just the way it is.

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