Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. John Thune, Hearing on A Look Ahead: Inspector General Recommendations for Improving Federal Agencies

Hearing

Good morning. Last week, this Committee held a hearing on reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens. We heard from stakeholders representing several sectors of the American economy about ways government agencies can regulate smarter -- protecting public safety and market fairness while fostering economic growth and innovation.

Today, we will discuss another important way to make government more efficient and effective -- by identifying and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in federal departments and agencies. For this task, there is no more effective tool than the inspectors general.

Created by the Inspector General Act of 1978, IGs serve as watchdogs over more than 70 federal agencies. According to the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, agency incorporation of IG recommendations led to $26 billion in potential savings in fiscal year 2015, and IG criminal and civil cases led to another $10.3 billion returned to the treasury. These figures amount to $14 saved for every taxpayer dollar invested in the work of the IGs.

This year marks the beginning of a new administration, and it will be important for new department and agency heads to be fully aware of the issues that have plagued their organizations in recent years.

Each of the IGs on the panel today recently published the top management challenges of their agencies for the new fiscal year. In addition to these, we will be discussing some of the hundreds of IG recommendations that remain open after, in some cases, several years.

The Department of Commerce faces a number of challenges across its agencies. For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration manages the acquisition and development of critical weather satellites, and will have to address cost and schedule overruns, while avoiding gaps in satellite coverage.

FirstNet, which is an independent authority within the Commerce Department, is also reaching critical early stages in its rollout of a nationwide public safety broadband network, and I believe FirstNet will continue to benefit greatly from rigorous oversight by the inspector general.

New Commerce Department leadership will also have to ensure that all of the Department's employees respect and follow government spending rules in the wake of an IG investigation into unjustified spending by the former Under Secretary for International Trade.

The National Science Foundation will have to address significant issues it has had keeping its large facilities, such as the National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON, on time and on budget.

The Committee ensured additional oversight of these facilities in the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, and we'll be eager to see these implemented.

The Department of Homeland Security oversees two components that are essential for ensuring the safety of our nation's transportation system: the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration.

The Coast Guard will have to tackle the challenges of improving cybersecurity, information management, and financial reporting.

TSA has had several high profile issues in recent years, including airport security failures discovered by IG red team testing, as well as breaches involving the Secure Identification Display Area, or SIDA, badges of airport employees.

This Committee worked to address these issues in the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, but new Department leadership will have to continue to work with DHS OIG to ensure the ongoing safety of the traveling public.

Finally, the Department of Transportation's major challenges include setting up the playing field for revolutionary new transportation technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and self-driving vehicles while also maintaining a world-class standard of safety.

The Department must also more effectively manage the series of major upgrade programs to the National Airspace System known collectively as NextGen and ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of the FAST Act. This work will inform our discussions as we work to craft an FAA reauthorization bill this year.

Finally, I would like to address briefly some recent developments within the IG community.

The media has reported that the new administration's transition team considered removing some IGs. It appears, however, that they quickly changed their minds and notified these IGs, including Mr. Roth and Mr. Scovel, that they would not be removed. I am confident that incoming agency leadership will continue to find the oversight work of their IGs to be as invaluable as I have.

I'm grateful that the Trump Administration is not behaving in the manner that the Obama Administration did in its first few months in power, when it fired the inspector general of AmeriCorps during his investigation of a prominent supporter of President Obama.

We have testifying before us today a distinguished all-IG panel. The Honorable Peggy Gustafson, Inspector General of the Department of Commerce--who, I would note, has been on the job at Commerce for only about three weeks, though she is a veteran IG; Ms. Allison Lerner, Inspector General of the National Science Foundation, who also served for nearly twenty years in leadership roles within the Commerce Department IG's office; the Honorable John Roth, Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, who spent 25 years in high-profile positions within the Department of Justice; and the Honorable Calvin Scovel III, Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, who last year celebrated a decade of service as DOT's inspector general--which followed a distinguished, 29-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps. I want to thank you all for being here and look forward to a productive discussion.

I will now turn to Ranking Member Nelson for any opening remarks.

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