Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Apropriations Act, 2006

TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, THE JUDICIARY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

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AMENDMENT NO. 2160

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am going to offer an amendment to this bill regarding the report of the independent counsel on Mr. Cisneros. I know there has been much talk about the need to bring to a close the independent counsel's work, and I agree.

I tell my colleagues, as a radio announcer would say, about the rest of the story. The independent counsel completed his investigative activities February 2003. The counsel completed and filed his report under seal to the Special Division August 2004. That is very important for every one of us to understand as we consider this amendment. The investigative work is completed. The report is completed.

So what is the holdup in getting this report out to the Congress and to the public? It is not the independent counsel; rather it is the lawyers of the individuals named in the report who have been engaged in one sole pursuit: to foot-drag every inch of the way filing every motion they can to delay, delay, delay. This foot-dragging by the lawyers has been going on for months. It is because of this foot-dragging that the independent counsel has had to continue its work. It has to respond to the mountains of pleas and motions that are filed by these lawyers.

I would like to make another point, and that is that the amendment does two things: It provides that the report will be released and published in 60 days, and by extension that the independent counsel will close up and wind down his office within 90 days of publication of the report and can only be extended by a finding of the court and the publication by that court of an exact time of when it will be shut down.

In addition, under my amendment it makes it clear that the independent counsel shall not perform any investigative or prosecutorial task in the remaining time period after the report is published.

I have had some discussions with my friend, Senator Dorgan from North Dakota, on this subject on the side as I was preparing this amendment, and he has also spoken very eloquently on this subject in a previous day's debate a few weeks back. I want him to know I agree with the concerns that he has that we must see the end of the independent counsel.

My first amendment reflected the same sentiment for closing the office once the report is published. But, unfortunately, as I was looking into the matter more closely, it is not straightforward to just shut down the independent counsel's office. The independent counsel, after publication, needs a short period of time to evaluate claims for attorney's fees, transfer records to the archivist, respond to congressional inquiries and possible litigation.

My hope, and I believe the hope of the independent counsel, is that barring the unforeseen, this all can be accomplished within the 90 days I have within my amendment.

So I want to assure my friend from North Dakota I share his concerns about runaway and unnecessary spending, and would join him in watching this matter closely and will be with him if we are not moving forward at a reasonable pace to bring this operation to an end.

Setting aside the matter of closure, I want to focus on one last point: The contents of this report and why they are so vital. I hope I have a good reputation among my colleagues for doing the constitutional job of oversight that each one of us has been assigned, to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed. I hope I have a reputation of doing oversight work regardless of what political party might be in charge of the executive branch of Government.

While Mr. Cisneros' name is there, and it is natural to see this through a partisan lens, let me assure my colleagues that is not the case. The media reports are giving very credible commentary that the independent counsel's report discusses problems at the Office of Criminal Investigation in the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice. These matters do not involve Mr. Cisneros but raise extremely important questions about the administration of the Tax Code.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I take with great seriousness accusations of inappropriate activity at the Internal Revenue Service, and also as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, similar accusations at the Department of Justice. However, as my colleagues know, I cannot legislate or conduct oversight based on whispers or rumors. I need the final report. The American taxpayers have a lot of money in this report. We are talking about millions of dollars. They deserve a right to see this investigation and what their tax money was spent for. More importantly, they deserve for there to be sunshine exposing problems in our Government and for legislators to be informed so that we can take appropriate action, in my case, within the Senate Finance Committee that I chair, or within the Judiciary Committee on which I serve.

In conclusion, this is a vitally important amendment. It will give Congress a report that will provide tremendous insight into problems in the administration of the Tax Code and other governmental misconduct. The amendment will also bring closure to the work of the independent counsel, a matter of concern to many and expressed eloquently, as I have said before, by the Senator from North Dakota. I think we provide a reasonable timeframe of 90 days after the report is published to wind down this office, with only the court allowed to continue the office.

Further, the amendment also limits the work of the independent counsel to the clerical work of closing the office. My amendment, then, prohibits those things that tend to make things go on and on and never stop--investigations and prosecution.

This may not be a perfect solution to getting this report out that has cost millions of dollars, but it is a fair compromise and one that I think will get the job done. Ideally, the report would just be released, but there are people who maybe do not want this report released--consequently all the legal action that has been holding it up for the last several--now, let's say at least 14 months.

I send the amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I send a modification to the desk and ask that my amendment be modified, which I have the right to do.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator does have a right to modify his amendment. The amendment is so modified.

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent that Senator Dorgan be added as my only cosponsor on this amendment.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in 15 seconds I wish to say that I appreciate very much the accommodations Mr. Dorgan has made and the fine dialog we had in bringing a compromise to my amendment. I compliment him on the work he did on this issue 2 or 3 months ago on a similar amendment. I appreciate very much the cooperation we have had.

I yield the floor.

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