Improved Financial and Commodity Markets Oversight and Accountability Act

Floor Speech

IMPROVED FINANCIAL AND COMMODITY MARKETS OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT -- (House of Representatives - June 08, 2009)

Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 885, the Improved Financial and Commodity Markets Oversight and Accountability Act. This bill, introduced by my friend Representative John Larson of Connecticut, would enhance the independence of Inspectors General at key financial regulatory agencies.

Right now we have an inconsistent system where some financial agencies like the FDIC have an Inspector General appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, while other large and important agencies like the SEC have an Inspector General who is appointed by and reports to the head of the agency they are supposed to be investigating.

This bill would create a more consistent and independent structure by elevating the Inspectors General at five financial regulatory agencies to be Presidentially appointed and Senate confirmed. This will enhance their independence from the agencies they are overseeing.

This committee has worked on Inspector General reform for the past several years now, and one of our key findings is that the Inspectors General have to be independent from the agency they are supervising if they are going to be effective. The situation at some agencies, where the head of the agency hires and fires the Inspector General and sets the office budget for that Inspector General, does not give these IGs, the Inspectors General, the independence they need.

Making the Inspector General a Presidential appointee confirmed by the Senate not only gives them independence from their agency management but also gives them more stature to come directly to Congress with any problems that they encounter.

Congresswoman Diane Watson, the chairwoman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, held a hearing on this bill where it had the support of the GAO. At the hearing, the agency Inspectors General made some suggestions on improving the bill, which has been incorporated in an amendment adopted at the committee markup. The amendment specifically clarifies that the Inspector General and the Inspector General staff retain their existing pay and personnel structure. It also clarifies and strengthens the subpoena authority of these Inspectors General, and it requires the heads of the agencies to report to Congress on actions they have taken in response to Inspector General recommendations.

Inspectors General have the unique responsibility of reporting both to the President and to Congress. Congress has to make sure that the Inspectors General have the legal authority and tools they need to continue their roles as nonpartisan, professional, honest brokers; and this bill, I believe, does that.

I urge all Members to support H.R. 885.

I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Utah for his hard work on this bill and his ongoing commitment, and it has been that case on much of the legislation that comes before our committee for his bipartisanship and willingness to work very hard on these issues. I consider it an honor to work with him.

I would like to submit for the Record an exchange of letters between the Honorable Collin Peterson, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and the Honorable Edolphus Towns, chairman of our Oversight Committee, with respect to their concerns regarding this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, in closing, we would like to reiterate our strong support for H.R. 885 and its lead sponsor and champion, Mr. Larson. Again, we appreciate the great work being done by ED TOWNS, the full committee Chair; Mr. Issa, its ranking member; and the gentleman from Utah, because this will increase the independence of these Inspectors General at financial regulatory agencies at a time when we need these internal watchdogs to be more effective than ever. We do appreciate the work that is being done by our Inspectors General and their staff, investigators and researchers. They work very hard for us. They do work that is not often appreciated, I think, on behalf of the American people; and this will, I think, allow them a greater level of independence to do the job that needs to be done. So I urge my colleagues to join Mr. Larson and all of us in supporting the passage of this measure.

Source