The Office of Inspector General (OIG) seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department of Commerce's programs and operations. OIG also endeavors to detect and deter waste, fraud, and abuse.
OIG monitors and tracks the use of taxpayer dollars through audits, inspections, evaluations, and investigations. The Inspector General keeps the Secretary of Commerce and Congress fully and currently informed about problems and deficiencies relating to Commerce's activities and the need for corrective action.
OIG is certified by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) as a 5 U.S.C. §2302(c) Whistleblower Protection Agency.
Published on Jun 22, 2013
Former Pentagon IG Joseph Schmitz
discusses the latest Obama administration inspector general scandals,
including retaliation against an IG at the State Department for exposing
wrongdoing there. He is the author of the Inspector General Handbook,
available now from the Center for Security Policy Press.
“Obama’s Inspector General Negligence” – Schmitz in the Wall Street Journal; Center Releases Timely Inspector General Handbook
WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 5 2013 – Former Pentagon Inspector General (IG) Joseph E. Schmitz, author of the recently-published Inspector General Handbook: Fraud, Waste, Abuse and Other Constitutional “Enemies, Foreign and Domestic “ (Center for Security Policy Press, May 2013), writes a blistering critique in today’s Wall Street Journal of the Obama administration’s failure to appoint accountable IGs:
For years, President Obama has neglected his duty to fill vacant inspector-general posts at the departments of State, Interior, Labor, Homeland Security and Defense and at the Agency for International Development. The president has nominated only two candidates to fill any of these six vacancies, and he subsequently withdrew both nominations. All told, an IG has been missing in action at each of those cabinet departments and the AID agency for between 18 months and five years.
In contrast to the challenges plaguing those major federal agencies
without a Senate-confirmed IG, Schmitz points out that the
Senate-confirmed Treasury Department IG for Tax Administration recently
exposed the issue of targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. On
the other hand, the State Department, which lacks even an “acting IG,”
is struggling with systemic breakdowns of integrity and accountability,
as witnessed by the failure to protect our embassy in Benghazi. As
Schmitz notes in the Journal:
The story at the State Department underscores the problem. For Hillary Clinton’s entire four-year tenure as secretary of State, she relied on a retired foreign service officer, former Ambassador Harold Geisel, to function as an inspector general—though he could never hold the title.
Amid the several emerging scandals in Washington, the Center’s publication of Schmitz’s new book is especially timely. The Inspector General Handbook provides an in-depth look at how the inspectors general of both military and civilian agencies help to establish a culture of both integrity and accountability, while providing safeguards against the abuse of power in government.
The Handbook‘s perspective
is drawn from Schmitz’ experiences as the former head of the Pentagon’s
Office of Inspector General—the most expansive IG organization in the
world—from 2002-2005.
The Inspector General Handbook addresses the origins of the IG system in the US Military, and how it was subsequently applied to other branches with the intention of ensuring integrity and efficiency in government. In addition to public officials, students of government and members of the legal profession, this timely book should be of interest to any citizen interested in accountability and efficiency in those agencies that serve the public interest.
The Inspector General Handbook (Center for Security Policy Press, $27.95, 584 pages) is available through Amazon.com
“Obama’s Inspector General Negligence” appears on page A13 in the June 5, 2013 US edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Source: Center For Security Policy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joseph Schmitz: Obama's Inspector General Negligence
The president was on notice at least by 2010 that the State Department was impaired by a lack of IG independence.
With so many scandals breaking in Washington, one may well ask: Where
were all the inspectors general when these bad things—at the IRS, at
Justice, and at State before, during and after Benghazi, for
instance—were going on? Where were the presidential appointees who,
since the Inspectors General Act of 1978, are meant to root out gross
mismanagement, fraud and other abuses at their federal departments and
agencies, or among those whom the agencies regulate? The sad truth is
that in the Obama administration many of the most important IGs mandated
by Congress simply are not in place.
For years, President Obama has neglected his duty to fill vacant inspector-general posts at the departments of State, Interior, Labor, Homeland Security and Defense and at the Agency for International Development. The president has nominated only two candidates to fill any of these six vacancies, and he subsequently withdrew both nominations. All told, an IG has been missing in action at each of those cabinet departments and the AID agency for between 18 months and five years.
At a time when American confidence in the integrity and transparency of the federal government has been shaken, inspectors general can help Washington get back to basic principles of accountability—but only if the IGs are properly appointed and allowed to do their jobs.
Although there are 73 inspectors general in the federal system, less than half fall into a category that indicates their special importance for the effective functioning of the government. The nomination of these IGs typically involves a collaborative process between the president and his cabinet secretaries. Congress has also mandated that each cabinet-level inspector general "shall be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or investigations."
The story at the State Department underscores the problem. For Hillary Clinton's entire four-year tenure as secretary of State, she relied on a retired foreign service officer, former Ambassador Harold Geisel, to function as an inspector general—though he could never hold the title.
READ MORE: WALL STREET JOURNAL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Office of Inspector General
Government's built-in watchdogs
The plural of inspector general is inspectors general, not inspector
generals. Now that we've cleared that up, what is an inspector general
and what do inspectors general do?
Within the federal agencies are politically independent individuals called Inspectors General who are responsible for ensuring that the agencies operate efficiently, effectively and legally. When it was reported in Oct. 2006 that Department of Interior employees wasted $2,027,887.68 worth of taxpayer time annually surfing sexually explicit, gambling, and auction websites while at work, it was the Interior Department's own Office of Inspector General that conducted the investigation and issued the report.
The mission of the Office of Inspector General
Established by the Inspector General Act of 1978,
the Office of Inspector General (OIG) examines all actions of a
government agency or military organization. Conducting audits and
investigations, either independently or in response to reports of
wrongdoing, the OIG ensures that the agency's operations are in
compliance with the law and general established policies of the
government. Audits conducted by the OIG are intended to ensure the
effectiveness of security procedures, or to discover the possibility of
misconduct, waste, fraud, theft, or certain types of criminal activity
by individuals or groups related to the agency's operation. Misuse of
agency funds or equipment are often revealed by OIG audits.
To help them carry out their investigative role, Inspector Generals have the authority to issue subpoenas for information and documents, administer oaths for taking testimony, and can hire and control their own staff and contract personnel. The investigative authority of Inspectors General is limited only by certain national security and law enforcement considerations.
How Inspectors General are appointed and removed
For the Cabinet-level agencies,
Inspectors General are appointed, without regard to their political
affiliation, by the President of the United States and must be approved
by the Senate. Inspectors General of the Cabinet-level agencies can be
removed only by the President. In other agencies, known as "designated
federal entities," like Amtrak, the U.S. Postal Service and the Federal
Reserve, the agency heads appoint and remove Inspectors General.
Inspectors General are appointed based on their integrity and experience
in:
- accounting, auditing, financial analysis;
- law, management analysis, public administration; or
- investigations
While by law, Inspectors General are under the general supervision of
the agency head or deputy, neither the agency head nor the deputy can
prevent or prohibit an Inspector General from conducting an audit or
investigation.
The conduct of the Inspectors General is overseen by the Integrity Committee of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE).
How do Inspectors General report their findings?
When an agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) identifies cases
of egregious and flagrant problems or abuses within the agency, the OIG
immediately notifies the agency head of the findings. The agency head is
then required to forward the OIG's report, along with any comments,
explanations and corrective plans, to Congress within seven days.
The Inspectors General also send semiannual reports of all their activities for the past six months to Congress.
All cases involving suspected violations of federal laws are reported to the Department of Justice, via the Attorney General.
Source: About..com
Thanks~! That was a great speech~!
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