WASHINGTON --- Senator Chuck Grassley today formalized his call for a Special Office of Inspector General to be established as part of any legislation that Congress considers for the financial system to scrutinize subsequent actions by the Treasury Department.
In a letter signed by 32 senators, Grassley and Senator Max Baucus said, “Congress owes American taxpayers the strongest oversight possible – not just after the task begins, but as it is planned.” Senators called for an inspector general office with the power to investigate, audit and issue subpoenas, along the lines of the Special Inspector General overseeing the Iraq reconstruction program.
Grassley has a long history of supporting the efforts of inspectors general and also of overseeing inspectors general themselves.
The text of the letter follows here.
September 25,2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U. S . House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 205 15
The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable John A. Boehner
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 205 15
We write to urge you to include in any legislation funding federal purchases of
troubled assets a provision creating a Special Inspector General to oversee the emergency
efforts of the Treasury Department. The most rigorous oversight possible must
accompany this legislation if Congress is to approve a program that puts taxpayer dollars
at risk.
This effort to take billions in bad assets off the books of America's financial
institutions is destined to be one of the most complex and difficult tasks ever undertaken.
Congress owes American taxpayers the strongest oversight possible - not just after the
task begins, but as it is planned. Proper oversight will require not only our constant
effort, but the full time attention of an office with only one task: to monitor this
extremely complex effort with a team of expert personnel who will not be distracted by
other duties. This office must be given the power to investigate and audit, with the ability
to issue subpoenas for any necessary documents. It must report to Congress a complete
set of facts about the activities of the Treasury Department and its contractors every 120
days. Timely, comprehensive and independent reporting is critical to good oversight.
This proposal is based on the Special Inspector General appointed to investigate
waste, fraud, and abuse in the Iraq reconstruction program - an office that has worked in
extremely challenging circumstances. But this Special Treasury Inspector General would
be on the job long before waste, fraud, and abuse has a chance to take hold in the
Treasury program.
The Special Inspector General would be nominated by the President within 30 days of
passage of the financial market rescue plan. Once confirmed by the Senate, the Inspector
General will appoint Assistant Inspectors General for Auditing and for Investigations,
and will have the authority to hire other staff and to contract with outside entities. The
Office would be charged with collecting the following information:
- categories of assets purchased (or procured by some other method)
- a list of assets in each category
- an explanation of how the assets were valued
- an explanation of why it was necessary to purchase each asset or groups of assets
- a list of financial institutions from which the assets were purchased
- a list of and information on each person or entity hired to purchase and manage
the assets
- a current estimate of the total purchases made, the amount of assets on the books of
the Treasury, the amount of assets sold and the profit and loss incurred on each sale or
disposition.
The administration is asking the American people to put up $700 billion in a crisis, to
execute a rescue plan for a faltering financial system. If Americans are to assume that
level of risk, they deserve the action and advocacy of a team that wakes up every
morning with one mission in mind: to track in the greatest detail possible the efforts of
the Treasury Department in order to hold the officials executing the plan accountable,
allowing Congress to properly monitor this unprecedented effort.
We urge you to include this proposal in any Treasury legislation the Congress
considers in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Max Baucus Charles Grassley
John Rockefeller John Kerry
Kent Conrad Patrick Leahy
Tom Harkin Barbara Boxer
Gordon Smith Pat Roberts
Ben Cardin Claire McCaskill
Blanche Lincoln Larry Craig
Carl Levin Ben Nelson
Hillary Rodham Clinton Thomas Carper
Olympia Snowe Susan Collins
Bill Nelson John Barrasso
George Voinovich Diane Feinstein
Ken Salazar Debbie Stabenow
Frank Lautenberg Michael Enzi
Tom Coburn Sheldon Whitehouse
Amy Klobuchar Norm Coleman
Lisa Murkowski