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Press Release Published: Jul 16, 2010

Issa Responds to Van Hollen’s Warnings of Oversight in a Republican Congress

WASHINGTON. D.C. –Speaking to Huffington Post, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, joined the chorus echoed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) in attempting to use the fear of rigorous oversight as a means to protect their Majority.

“Between a trillion-dollar stimulus, numerous bailouts and a government takeover of health care, the role, size and scope of the federal government has grown dramatically, can Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen honestly tell the American people we need less oversight, not more,” askedRep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. “We have a responsibility to look inward at the litany of waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and corruption that exists in our own federal bureaucracy.  Obviously, the House Democratic Leadership believes that a Democratic Congress should give this administration immunity from legitimate questions and appropriate accountability.  Their statements are indicative of the desperate state their Majority is in and if the best case they can make is to caution the American people against the dangers of conducting legitimate and vigorous oversight, they is welcome to make that case.

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) recently awarded Issa a good government award for his  “rigorous oversight he conducted of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and identifying those technical and cultural weaknesses at the agency that contributed to the Gulf Coast spill” and for being “a strong advocate for taxpayers since the earliest days of the government bailout of the financial sector.  For instance, Issa forced the New York Fed to release key documents on the bailout of AIG, and introduced legislation to improve the government’s collection of business data.”

“Democratic congressional leaders seem to conveniently ignore the fact that the last time Republicans had subpoena power, I used it to subpoena the five largest oil companies in an investigation centering on the true nature of the dysfunctional and too-cozy relationship companies had with MMS,” Issa noted.  “The fact of the matter is oversight should be done vigorously and effectively — even if it raises uncomfortable questions for the Obama White House and Democratic congressional leaders. If Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen truly believe that we should forfeit our responsibility to look inward at the waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and corruption in government, they should take a good, long, hard look at what’s happening in the Gulf right now and see the human cost associated with lax oversight of the government.”