Abstract
The final chapter examines oversight as a core legislative function critical to strengthening government, stopping abuses, and protecting the public. It explains how bipartisan, fact-based oversight contributes to the Constitutional system of checks and balances by identifying problems, building consensus on the facts, and generating reforms. It condemns inquiries marred by partisan tactics, disregard for the facts, or unethical or ineffective investigative techniques. The chapter identifies steps to strengthen oversight, including increased training and research. It posits that, when done well, bipartisan oversight can help rebuild public confidence in Congress, while producing more effective government. The chapter also notes that bipartisan, fact-based congressional oversight investigations are a unique American contribution to world culture, one that should be respected, nurtured, and celebrated.
“Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin, The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings (Vintage International 2011) ©
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Notes
- 1.
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations v. Ferrer, 199 F.Supp.3d 125 (D.D.C. 2016), appeal vacated as moot, 856 F.3d 1080 (D.C. Cir. 2017).
- 2.
See, for example, “Justice Department Leads Effort to Seize Backpage.Com, the Internet’s Leading Forum for Prostitution Ads, and Obtains 93-Count Federal Indictment,” DOJ Press Release (4/9/2018), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-leads-effort-seize-backpagecom-internet-s-leading-forum-prostitution-ads; “Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Criminal Charges Against Senior Corporate Officers of Backpage.com for Profiting from Prostitution and Arrest of Carl Ferrer, CEO,” State of California Attorney General Press Release (10/6/2016), https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-announces-criminal-charges-against-senior.
- 3.
“Combatting The Opioid Crisis: Exploiting Vulnerabilities In International Mail,” Bipartisan Staff Report, U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1/24/2018), https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Combatting%20the%20Opioid%20Crisis%20-%20Exploiting%20Vulnerabilities%20in%20International%20Mail1.pdf.
- 4.
See, for example, The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works, Henry Waxman (Twelve 2009).
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Bean, E.J. (2018). Pursuing Oversight. In: Financial Exposure. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94388-6_14
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