[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20236]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO EARL DEVANEY

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I rise today to give tribute to Mr. Earl 
Devaney, who will be retiring from 42 years of public service at the 
end of this year.
  In an era when the American people have a record-level of distrust in 
government, Mr. Devaney has risen above partisanship as a staunch 
defender of taxpayers and champion of government transparency.
  Devaney started his career as a cop on the beat in Massachusetts. 
Then, Devaney went to work for the U.S. Secret Service until 1991, 
where he was the Special Agent-in-Charge of the agency's fraud 
division. In 1999, President Clinton appointed Devaney the inspector 
general of the Interior Department. There, he gained wide renown for 
overseeing the public corruption investigations that helped lead to the 
convictions of Jack Abramoff, a Washington superlobbyist and major 
beneficiary of the congressional earmark favor factory that polluted 
our politics for several decades. He also presided over the landmark 
investigation of the royalties program in the Minerals Management 
Service, finding a ``culture of ethical failure'' among public 
officials there, involving illegal gifts, illegal drug abuse, sexual 
misbehavior and more.
  In his role as the chief watchdog of the Department of Interior, I 
got to know Earl and spent significant time visiting with him. What I 
have learned to appreciate about him was his honesty, integrity and 
forthrightness.
  In February 2009, President Obama named Devaney to head the Recovery 
Board, which is charged with overseeing the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act, ARRA. In this position, he was integral to making 
sure that the spending in the stimulus was as transparent as possible.
  At the end of the year, Mr. Devaney will be resigning from three 
posts: the Chair of the Recovery Board, inspector general for the 
Department of the Interior, and Chairman of the Government 
Accountability and Transparency Board, the position that Vice President 
Biden appointed him to for managing the administration's efforts to 
reduce government waste and to provide ``concrete methods'' for 
improving oversight and transparency of Federal funds.
  I can't think of a tougher defender of the interests of citizens and 
taxpayers in the Federal Government than Mr. Devaney. As one of the 
best inspectors general, his dogged pursuits of corruption and waste in 
government will be missed.
  In his resignation letter to President Obama, Mr. Devaney thanked the 
President for the ``opportunities you have given me to serve my 
country, and I will always look fondly on my decades as a public 
servant.''
  Mr. Devaney, the American people will also look fondly on years of 
public service. Thank you for all you have done.

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