Letter to The Honorable Pete V. Domenici, Chairman, United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and The Honorable Jeff Bingaman, ....
Letter to The Honorable Pete V. Domenici, Chairman, United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and The Honorable Jeff Bingaman, Ranking Member, United State Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
The text of Wyden's letter requesting a hearing is below:
September 21, 2006
The Honorable Pete V. Domenici
Chairman
United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
364 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Jeff Bingaman
Ranking Member
United State Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
364 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Chairman Domenici and Senator Bingaman:
In light of the serious ethics concerns recently raised by Department of Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney, I am writing to request that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee have Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne testify before the Committee about what changes have been made on his watch to end the kinds of ethics failures identified by Mr. Devaney.
Last week, Inspector General Devaney testified before the House Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy and Resources that top officials at the Interior Department tolerate widespread ethics failures. Mr. Devaney testified that "[s]imply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of Interior. I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been disregarded by the department". Mr. Devaney went on to describe a broader organization culture of denial and "defending the indefensible" at the Interior Department.
During the confirmation hearing of then-Governor Dirk Kempthorne by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I specifically raised my concerns about the ethics violations that had occurred when his predecessor Gail Norton served as Secretary and asked Mr. Kempthorne what he would do to address this problem. I specifically asked Mr. Kempthorne whether he supported tightening the conflict of interest rules at the Interior Department. In response, Mr. Kempthorne testified "if confirmed, the first day that I am Secretary of the Interior I will also be sitting down with the Office of Ethics and will also discuss the topic of ethics with the employees of the Department of Interior."
In light of the Inspector General's findings of persistent and continuing ethics problems and Secretary Kempthorne's promise to look into these problems, I request that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hold a hearing on the Department of Interior's compliance and have Secretary Kempthorne testify about what he has done to improve the Department's compliance with government ethics standards. I further request that this hearing be held before the end of the session.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Ron Wyden
U.S. Senate
http://wyden.senate.gov/media/2006/09212006_Interior_Ethics_Abuses.htm