congressional_record: CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgE1931
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| CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgE1931 | 1996-10-21 | 104 | 2 | PRESIDENTIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | ALLOTHER | E1931 | E1931 | [{"name": "John L. Mica", "role": "speaking"}] | 142 Cong. Rec. E1931 | Congressional Record, Volume 142 Issue 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996) [Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1931] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [[Page E1931]] PRESIDENTIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT ______ HON. JOHN L. MICA of florida in the house of representatives Monday, October 21, 1996 Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that as one of its last actions this historic 104th Congress will pass the Presidential and Executive Office Accountability Act. In one of its first legislative actions, this Congress took the unprecedented step of making itself subject to the same laws that govern private citizens and businesses. Now, this legislation, which I introduced, will make the White House obey those laws, too. When the President signs this bill, the last plantation where American civilians toil beyond the reach of some of the basic labor and employment laws imposed on private enterprise will have fallen. As a result of the Congressional Accountability Act and this legislation, the political branches of government will be required to wrestle with the same knotty problems that private businesses face every day. They will face compliance with the same laws and edicts imposed on all Americans. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, the bill we are passing today is not nearly as strong as the bill this House passed by a vote of 410 to 5 on September 24, 1996. It has been watered down in a number of areas, mostly as a result of administration pressure. Unlike Congress and the private sector, the White House will have the option of following the Federal sector version of some of these employment laws. That is, rather than obey the same law as the legislative branch and American businesses, the President may take advantage of special variations of those laws that apply to the executive branch. Some very important provisions have been stripped altogether. One was a long overdue revision of the definition of ``special government employee.'' These special government employees--who often serve without pay--are subject to conflict-of-interest statutes and financial disclosure requirements. Such checks on the activities of volunteer advisers to the President and White House employees are indispensable for safeguarding the integrity of governmental processes and decisions. Yet ambiguities in existing law were exploited by the Clinton White House and Justice Department to hold that Harry Thomason, whose questionable activities have been documented in the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight's report on the Travelgate scandal, was not a special government employee. The President needs his personal and confidential advisors, but the American people need to hold such people accountable. Harry Thomason and other political operatives used this White House like a personal office annex. He should have been accountable to the ethics laws, conflict of interest, and other measures that ensure the integrity of the highest offices in the land. These abuses must be stopped. Mr. Speaker, the bill this House passed on the 24th would have made it clear that such people are to be considered special government employees. Under that bill, they would have been subject to conflict- of-interest rules and financial disclosure requirements. It would have prevented future abuses. But those provisions have been stripped from the bill we will pass today. When the next Congress convenes, I will again introduce legislation to make future Harry Thomasons accountable to the American people. Another key provision of the House-passed bill that is not found in the version passed by the Senate required the President to appoint a chief financial officer for the Executive Office of the President. The chief financial officer, which is found in other agencies throughout the Government, would review and audit the White House's financial systems and records. The Travelgate, Filegate, and hearings related to other White House scandals highlighted the shortcomings in this White House's financial responsibility. We will need to strengthen this law during the 105th Congress. During our hearings last year, we learned that the White House's financial operations lacked structure, so we could not achieve accountability. Sometimes, the White House paid for equipment it no longer needed. Other times, it paid for items that were never delivered. These hearings also revealed other egregious examples of waste and abuse because accounting controls were so poor the White House Communications Agency recently had $14.5 million in unvalidated obligations. The Department of Defense's inspector general reported that the Agency paid only 17 percent of its bills on time, so taxpayers got stuck for penalties and interest on the other 83 percent of its obligations. The House-passed bill also included provisions, advanced by Government Management, Information, and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Representative Stephen Horn and Representative Charles Bass, that would have placed an inspector general in the White House. The White House opposed this provision, even though other Government agencies must comply. If you can believe it, Mr. Speaker, the same people who put a bar bouncer and political trickster in charge of White House personnel security insisted that they do not need to meet the same oversight standards as the rest of the Government. With the gross mismanagement and lack of accountability that we have uncovered in this White House, I can assure you that I will pursue these matters vigorously in the next Congress. ____________________ |