Inspector General Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Representative Lieu's Inspector General Protection Act.

The inspector general system has been invaluable in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in our Federal programs, and sometimes even criminal activity. It has also instilled confidence in Federal agencies by ensuring accountability. That, however, doesn't mean the system is perfect.

Since the initial passage of the Inspector General Act of 1978, we have seen what works and what doesn't. We have added inspectors general and refined their processes.

On January 20, a new President will be sworn into office and a new administration will lead our Federal agencies. Before they begin, now is a good time to update some of our inspector general requirements.

This bill makes important improvements by requiring disclosure to Congress when an IG is put on nonduty status and why a President has not nominated a permanent IG for a vacant position. These updates are necessary, and we must also do more.

Last Congress, I introduced the Appointments Clause Enforcement Act. That bill included several important changes to the IG system that would help make inspectors general more independent and instill confidence in them.

For example, rather than the President appointing an acting IG when a position is vacant, my bill would have the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency develop a list of qualified candidates and share those with the chief judge of the district court in the District of Columbia, who would make the appointment. That way, a President could not install political allies as acting inspectors general, even ones who didn't receive the advice and consent of the Senate, as a way to reduce oversight.

We should also clarify provisions to make sure that IGs forward legitimate whistleblower complaints to Congress without political interference and that those whistleblowers are protected from political retribution.

I thank Representative Lieu for sponsoring the Inspector General Protection Act and Speaker Pelosi for bringing it to the floor as one of our first bills.

I hope that this is the beginning of the 117th Congress' efforts to improve the inspector general system that works to improve our Federal Government's systems of administration and protects policies that are important for transparency and integrity of government.

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