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Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 6.17.13

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Honoring Congressman William Wampler, Sr.

On Monday, June 17, family and friends gathered in Bristol, Virginia to honor former Congressman William Wampler, Sr. and designate a portion of Interstate 81 in his honor. Congressman Wampler served our nation as a member of the United States Navy before being elected to serve two different stints as the Ninth District’s Representative in Congress, the first time beginning in 1952. The ceremony took place at the Bristol Welcome Center.

Congressman Wampler served as a role model and an advisor to me, and was kind enough to allow me to consult with him on a number of occasions before and after I was elected to represent the Ninth District. Congressman Wampler was a man of principle, integrity, and courage, and always considered it a distinct privilege to serve the people of the Fightin’ Ninth. His legacy and influence will long be remembered.

The New Energy Secretary

Dr. Ernest Moniz, the newly-named Secretary of Energy, recently came before my colleagues and me on the Subcommittee on Energy and Power in a hearing that focused on President Obama’s proposed 2014 budget for the Department of Energy (DOE). This was Secretary Moniz’s first appearance before the Energy and Commerce Committee since he was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 97-0.

The hearing covered a wide range of energy-related topics, including the cleaner use of coal, hydraulic fracturing and our country’s subsequent dramatic increase in oil and gas production, liquefied natural gas (LNG) permit applications, and the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

Importantly, I asked Secretary Moniz about recent advances in coal technologies – particularly the developments of an Ohio State University professor who has come up with a way to extract the energy out of coal with virtually no pollutants. I encouraged Secretary Moniz and would encourage the rest of the Administration to embrace the great resource that coal is, and encourage the discovery of new ways to use it. This, in turn, would give jobs back to the Ninth District of Virginia.

I also expressed to Secretary Moniz, Virginia’s desire to access the significant amount of untapped natural gas and perhaps oil that remains off the shores of the Commonwealth. While that does not directly impact the Ninth District of Virginia, the revenues from offshore drilling would bring in more money for Virginia, which means Richmond would have more money that it could spend in the Ninth District on education, roads, or other projects as our State legislators would determine.

While Secretary Moniz and I may not agree on everything, I was impressed with him. He was very knowledgeable and appeared willing to work with Congress as we continue our efforts to preserve and create energy jobs, address challenges, and secure a strong energy landscape for our country’s future.

The Bay State Boondoggle – An Update

Previous columns have included sections regarding the so-called “Bay State Boondoggle” – a provision in President Obama’s health care reform law that changes Medicare funding formulas to benefit some States – including Massachusetts, which is the most notable example – at the expense of the remaining States.

As Donald Berwick, the former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, said, “What Massachusetts gets comes from everybody else.” According to the House Ways and Means Committee, hospitals in Massachusetts are expected to receive hundreds of millions of dollars more than they otherwise would have been entitled to. These hundreds of millions more that Massachusetts’ hospitals receive due to this “Bay State Boondoggle” come from the other States, including Virginia.

A recent opinion piece in the Boston Globe highlighting this problem said “the right prescription is to get rid of the boondoggle itself.” I agree. H.R. 2053 was recently introduced in the House to repeal the “Bay State Boondoggle,” and I am proud to be one of the bill’s original cosponsors.

Earlier this year, the Senate adopted an amendment to their budget that symbolically repeals the “Bay State Boondoggle.” I am hopeful that the House will soon vote on H.R. 2053, evening the playing field for the other States including Virginia.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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Griffith Remarks on Liberty, Government Overreach, and John Wilkes

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Following recent reports of certain federal agencies accessing the phone and internet data of American citizens, Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives to discuss Great Britain's John Wilkes and his fight for liberty.

Video of Griffith's remarks can be found by clicking here or on the image below.

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Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 6.10.13

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Scandals – An Update, and the National Security Agency

As investigations continue into what transpired surrounding the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, President Obama announced Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice as his next national security adviser. It was Ambassador Rice who appeared on numerous shows, and used the contrived story of a video as what caused the attack. Unlike members of the President’s Cabinet, the national security adviser post does not require Senate confirmation hearings, where Ambassador Rice most likely would have faced difficult questions about who gave her those talking points.

Information on the practices of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues coming to light, including conferences on which the IRS spent around $50 million over three years, at a time when we were being told there was little fat in the budget. This follows the IRS admitting to having inappropriately and improperly handled applications from conservative groups.

Even more recent are reports of National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs that have been collecting data on the internet sites you visited and telephone usage records of most Americans. Furthermore, it has been reported by the Wall Street Journal that credit card companies have provided customer information to the NSA.

These revelations have upset many on both sides of the aisle who are skeptical of government power and supportive of individual rights and privacies. I opposed the long-term extension of the Patriot Act in part because I was uncomfortable with the idea of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) giving secret organizations permission to look at the secrets of American citizens who hadn’t done anything illegal.

These are outrageous and disturbing examples of ineptitude and overreach that I will continue monitoring moving forward.

Event Data Recorders

A constituent recently reached out to express his concerns about ‘black boxes’ – event data recorders (EDR) that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates are currently installed in 96 percent of new cars and that, according to USA Today, track “your seat belt use, speed, steering, braking and at least a dozen other bits of data.”

While the EDRs may be valuable in collecting crash data, questions remain – questions like who the EDR’s information belongs to, for example. Does it belong to you, the car’s owner? Does it belong to your insurance company, which may use the information to increase your rates? Or does the information belong to lawyers or law enforcement, who may be able to access the information without a warrant? Should you have the option to turn off the EDR?

While in the Virginia House, we debated similar issues. I copatroned H.B. 2135, legislation to ensure that motor vehicle insurers could not include provisions in policies that would authorize the insurer to obtain data stored in the EDR, and supported H.B. 2134, that would clarify that information recorded to an EDR belongs to the owner and can only be retrieved with the owner’s consent or after having obtained a traditional search warrant issued by an appropriate court (not the secret FISA court). Regrettably, these bills did not become law.

You may remember when the in-vehicle communications system OnStar came under fire for saying it planned to continue monitoring the vehicle activity of owners who no longer subscribed to OnStar. OnStar even suggested that it may sell that data before media reports caused it to change course.

Important to note is that services like OnStar are optional. The NHTSA has proposed making EDRs mandatory, recommending that all new consumer vehicles come equipped with EDRs beginning next year. The NHTSA said, “in keeping with NHTSA's current policies on EDR data, the EDR data would be treated by NHTSA as the property of the vehicle owner and would not be used or accessed by the agency without owner consent.”

However, after the events of the last few weeks, this may not sufficiently reassure many Americans concerned about their privacy.

It is past time for a federal solution. For that reason, I am cosponsoring the Black Box Privacy Act, which will clarify that a vehicle’s owner also owns the EDR’s data and that the information may not be accessed without the owner’s permission or without having obtained a valid, properly-issued search warrant. It also would require manufacturers to provide consumers with the capabilities to control the EDR’s recording function, in other words, you could turn it off.

I will continue working to ensure that the American people have more control over their information – be it phone records or the information collected by your car’s EDR.

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Griffith Remembers D-Day

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today released the following statement on the anniversary of D-Day:

“Brave soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion 69 years ago, willing to sacrifice it all for the causes of liberty and freedom. We will always remember these warriors, including the Bedford Boys and Mr. Bob Slaughter of Bristol, Virginia. Today in particular, we express our eternal gratitude to the Greatest Generation for their heroism, fearlessness, and sacrifice.”

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Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 6.3.13

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Advancing Mental Health

On June 3, President Obama held a National Conference on Mental Health.

The President said, “we’ve got to do a better job recognizing mental health issues in our children. … [T]hree-quarters of mental illnesses emerge by the end of -- by the age of 24, [but] only about half of children with mental health problems receive treatment. …”

On this, President Obama and I are in agreement.

Members of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I serve, heard testimony that, even for those children who get treatment, it takes approximately 18 months before they see a mental health professional for the first time.

We held meetings on severe mental illness and violence, where we heard heart-wrenching stories of individuals who suffered from severe mental illnesses and then were involved in violent acts. Often these were acts of suicide, but sometimes they were acts against others, including murder. Of course, the majority of people with mental illnesses do not resort to violence.

We must continue working to ensure that those individuals needing help are able to receive treatment.

Meningitis Health Scare

Last fall’s fungal meningitis outbreak was a true public health crisis for our nation. In our region, there were 2 deaths and 50 confirmed cases of fungal meningitis associated with the sterile compounded injections from the New England Compounding Center (NECC). Approximately 1,400 patients were notified that they could have been exposed through the tainted steroid injections.

I believe that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearly had the authority they needed to prevent the fungal meningitis outbreak.

To be on the safe side, though, I plan to introduce legislation that further defines a compounding pharmacy. These should continue to be regulated by the States. Manufacturers, no matter what they call themselves, should continue to be regulated by the FDA.

In completing a thorough investigation of the fungal meningitis outbreak, the Energy and Commerce Committee obtained draft guidance for the oversight of compounding pharmacies that FDA had spent 3 years developing and were taking the steps necessary to finalize in the days before the public health crisis. Instead of providing the agency with broad new authorities over our local community pharmacies, I believe this FDA draft guidance is the place to start.

The legislation being developed would clarify that to be a compounding pharmacy one must compound drugs based on patient-specific prescriptions. The bill would also codify a guidance provision that FDA had proposed to allow hospitals, clinics, and doctors to administer some compounded medications in a healthcare setting that would then require a patient-specific prescription to be reported back to the pharmacy within 7 days. The legislation would also require all compounding pharmacies meet a minimum federal standard for the safety, quality, and sterility of the drugs they produce.

Finally, the bill would provide for greater information sharing between FDA and the States. With NECC, FDA received complaints from multiple states about NECC, but FDA never shared this information with other States or took action to investigate NECC for illegal manufacturing.

Medicare Advantage

Several weeks ago, I wrote about Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ April 18 appearance before the Subcommittee on Health. While testifying, Secretary Sebelius said that Medicare Advantage rates nationwide have gone down. This comment left me wondering whether the Secretary’s national statistics play out in rural communities like many in Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District, especially given that my 83-year-old mother is now paying higher rates to keep the plan she has and likes.

Thanks to those who submitted feedback to my office regarding whether their Medicare Advantage rates have gone up, stayed the same, or decreased. We heard from several people that their rates had decreased or that they weren’t sure of changes in their rates, but we received more feedback having to do with rates increasing. If you have not yet shared your experience with us, I welcome you to do so.

Serving You

As you may know, the Ninth Congressional District of Virginia is slightly larger than the entire state of New Jersey, encompassing parts of Southwest Virginia, Southern Virginia, and the Alleghany Highlands. My staff and I travel regularly through the district to hold traveling staff office hours, where we meet with constituents and help interact with federal agencies. This is a common-sense way for you to voice your opinion on legislation or seek assistance with federal issues. A complete schedule of June’s traveling staff office hours can be found on my website, www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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Ninth District Traveling Staff Office Hours for June

Wed, 29 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Griffith’s Ninth District STAFF will be available at the following locations during the month of June:

June 5, 2013

Smyth County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Town Council Chambers
138 West Main Street
Marion, VA

Covington: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Covington City Hall
City Hall Conference Room
333 W. Locust Street
Covington, VA

Craig County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Craig County Administration Building
108 Court Street
New Castle, VA

Bristol: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Bristol VA Public Library
Upstairs Conference Room
701 Goode Street
Bristol, VA

June 7, 2013

Martinsville: 11:00am – 1:00pm
NCI
Room 106 – Classroom Building
30 Franklin Street
Martinsville, VA

Scott County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Community Services Building
Community Room
190 Beech Street
Gate City, VA

Norton: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Norton City Council Chambers
618 Virginia Avenue NW
Norton, VA

June 12, 2013

Radford: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Radford Public Library
Meeting Room
30 West Main Street
Radford, VA

Pulaski County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Pulaski County Library
Meeting Room
60 3^rd Street NW
Pulaski, VA

June 13, 2013

Grayson County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Grayson County Administration Building
Board of Supervisors Room
Suite 206
129 Davis Street
Independence, VA

Russell County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Southwest Virginia Technology Development Center
141 Highland Drive
Lebanon, VA

Tazewell County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Bluefield Town Hall – Council Chambers
112 Huffard Drive
Bluefield, VA

Galax: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Galax Municipal Building
Conference Room
111 E. Main Street
Galax, VA

June 18, 2013

Giles County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Pearisburg Town Hall
112 Tazewell Street
Pearisburg, VA

Tazewell County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Richlands Town Hall
200 Washington Square
Richlands, VA

Buchanan County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Grundy Town Hall
1185 Plaza Drive
Grundy VA

Salem: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Salem Library
28 East Main Street
Salem, VA

June 19, 2013

Henry County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Bassett Historical Society
3964 Fairystone Parkway
Bassett, VA

Bland County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Bland County Courthouse
Admin. Office Room 200
612 Main Street
Bland, VA

Wythe County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Wythe County Sheriff’s Office
Conference Room
245 South 4^th Street
Wytheville, VA

Patrick County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Patrick County Administration Building
Conference Room
106 Rucker Street
Stuart, VA

June 20, 2013

Lee County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Conference Room
33640 Main Street – Suite U101
Jonesville, VA

Wise County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Big Stone Gap Federal Courthouse
3^rd Floor Room 303
322 Wood Avenue E
Big Stone Gap, VA

June 21, 2013

Carroll County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Carroll County Administration Building
Board of Supervisors Room
605 – 1 Pine Street
Hillsville, VA

Floyd County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Floyd County Library
321 W. Main Street
Floyd, VA

June 28, 2013

Alleghany County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Clifton Forge Library
Conference Room
535 Church Street
Clifton Forge, VA 24422

Dickenson County: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Dickenson Center for Education & Research
818 Happy Valley Drive
Clintwood, VA

Wise County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Big Stone Gap Federal Courthouse
3^rd Floor Room 03
322 Wood Avenue E
Big Stone Gap, VA

Roanoke County: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Roanoke Library Hollins Branch
6624 Peters Creek Road
Roanoke, VA

**Please contact the Christiansburg Office at 540-381-5671 or the Abingdon Office at 276-525-1405 with any questions.

Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 5.24.13

Fri, 24 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Memorial Day: A Day of Remembrance

This week we celebrate Memorial Day. For many, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer. But most importantly, it is a day when we remember and honor the men and women who have died while serving our country in the United States Armed Forces. Paying the ultimate price, they gave their lives to defend the freedoms we hold dear. Whether we lay wreaths at their final resting places, proudly fly flags, or participate in parades, these tributes are made in remembrance of their bravery and selfless sacrifice.

May we also remember the men and women in uniform who are currently serving, both here and abroad, and their families. They, too, give much to preserve and protect this great country. Whether it is on Memorial Day, the week of Memorial Day, or throughout the year, we should remember that their contributions help keep us free and our nation strong. We thank them all.

Increasing Patient Choice and Control

Our great nation boasts an array of companies that are working hard to end human suffering and develop new treatments for terminal and life-threatening diseases.

Currently, it takes approximately 15 years and $1 billion to bring a new drug to market in America.

I believe very strongly that, when battling deadly diseases, patients and their physicians need more options.

While serving in Congress, former Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) introduced legislation to help address the issues outlined above. Though Mr. Bilbray is no longer serving in the “people’s House,” I am of the belief that these issues remain relevant and that a solution is needed.

Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA), Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), and I recently introduced H.R. 2090, the Patient Choice Act, to carry on Mr. Bilbray’s concept. This legislation would speed up the FDA approval of drugs for patients, and would also give patients with terminal diseases the option to purchase these new, innovative therapies at their own expense. This will give patients access to potentially life-saving medicines much sooner, and is a common-sense and responsible way with which to provide patients the freedom to battle deadly diseases.

For patients whose doctors have exhausted current medical options and have been told that the end of life is nearing, why should the federal government interfere if the patient wishes to spend their own money on an experimental treatment plan that may not yet have made it through the FDA’s lengthy approval process? The Patient Choice Act would empower patients facing difficult situations to have more control over their own medical decisions nearing the end of their lives and to help all people by moving the ball down the field in the area of medical science and medical knowledge.

In rare cases, the individual may be cured or the patient’s life lengthened. But even when that doesn’t occur, the individual will have the satisfaction of knowing that they helped save someone in the future.

Advancing the bipartisan Patient Choice Act through Congress will be an uphill battle, but it is a worthy concept that I will continue working to promote. For more information on the Patient Choice Act, please visit my website, www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

Congratulations, Graduates!

It is once again the time of year that families and friends gather to celebrate the graduations of students of all ages. Congratulations to all graduates – my family and I wish you the very best in the next chapter of life.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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Griffith, Peters, McCaul Introduce the Patient Choice Act

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA), and Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) today introduced H.R. 2090, the Patient Choice Act of 2013, which aims to speed up the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of drugs for patients. Among other reforms, the Patient Choice Act would create a fast track provisional approval process for innovative drugs and treatments while giving patients with terminal diseases the option to purchase these new therapies at their own expense.

Currently, it takes approximately 15 years and $1 billion to bring a new drug to market in the United States. Meanwhile, over 500,000 patients die each year of cancer alone, and one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. For diseases like melanoma, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, either very few drugs are available or those in the pipeline cannot make it through FDA’s delays and regulations. The Patient Choice Act, first introduced by former Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA), aims to address these issues.

“Patients and their physicians need and deserve options as they battle deadly diseases,” Congressman Griffith said. “For patients whose doctors have exhausted current medical options and have been told that the end of life is nearing, why should the federal government interfere if the patient wishes to spend their own money on an experimental treatment plan? The Patient Choice Act would empower a patient faced with that dilemma to help move the ball down the field in the area of medical science and medical knowledge. In rare cases, the individual may be cured or the patient’s life lengthened. But even when that doesn’t occur, the individual will have the satisfaction of knowing that they helped save someone in the future.”

“There are research facilities in San Diego developing potentially life-saving medicines and therapies, which have been proven safe after rigorous testing. Unfortunately, because of the lengthy FDA approval process, patients with the most urgent need aren’t able to access them,” Congressman Peters said. “We should be doing more to promote research and innovation here in the United States, and this bill is a way to incentivize researchers to stay here while getting patients remedies that they need.”

“The Patient Choice Act offers hope to patients by giving them more treatment options and control over their own health decisions,” said Congressman McCaul, Chairman of the Childhood Cancer Caucus. “I am particularly proud to support legislation which will spur the development of much needed treatments for children with cancer and other rare disease for which there are few treatment options available.”

BACKGROUND:

The United States boasts an array of companies working hard to develop new treatments to terminal and life-threatening diseases. However, many times their work languishes on the shelf in labs as federal regulations and long review times impede their efforts to bring comfort to American citizens. Further, companies are leaving the United States and heading overseas to address this issue, citing FDA delays, unpredictability, and an ever-expanding costly regulatory process.

The Patient Choice Act would create a fast track provisional approval process, in which the Secretary of Health and Human Services would have 90 days to grant provisional approval status to the sponsor of the drug after the drug has been determined to be a fast track product and the sponsor has submitted the appropriate safety data and requested provisional approval. The sponsor must continue to follow the normal FDA approval process, ultimately proving the full safety and effectiveness of a drug.

The legislation would also provide patients with terminal diseases with the option to purchase investigational drugs that have been given provisional approval at the patient’s own expense.

If a drug has been approved in Europe and other FDA “listed countries” for at least 4 years, a company can submit an application with existing safety support data from their “listed country” approval, and the Secretary must make a decision on granting the drug provisional approval.

Finally, the FDA can withdraw approval if any data shows it is not safe. This provisional approval operates similarly to what is currently allowed in off-label use of approved drugs for new unapproved indications. Provisional approval enables this use with full disclosure and informed consent at the outset of safety in anticipation of the first indication for use. This will bring this access to patients much sooner, and does so responsibly and with common sense to provide patients the freedom to battle deadly diseases.

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Griffith Votes to Advance Keystone XL Pipeline

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act:

“More than 1,700 days have passed since the State Department received the initial application for the Keystone XL pipeline, and the American people continue waiting for the Administration’s decision. With each passing day, bipartisan support for the construction of this pipeline has grown.

“There is no question that construction of the Keystone XL would be a major American job creator. President Obama and the State Department have slow-walked Keystone XL’s approval process, but it is time to build. I am proud to be joining my colleagues in the House in voting to clear the way for the Keystone XL pipeline, its contributions to our energy security, and the jobs it would create for the American people.”

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Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 5.20.13

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The Tone is Set at the Top

Some scandals currently engulfing Washington – such as the Administration’s actions surrounding the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the Department of Justice (DOJ) having subpoenaed two months of the Associated Press’ phone records, and investigations into the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly handling applications submitted by “Tea Party” or “Patriot” groups – have received quite a bit of media attention.

Another brewing scandal hasn’t yet received similar attention. Not only has the IRS admitted to improperly handling applications from conservative groups, but the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) recently released a report claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waives the access fees through the Freedom of Information Act for public records for left-leaning environmental groups more than 90 percent of the time, but refuses more than 90 percent of the time to waive those fees for conservative groups. That means CEI’s data indicates that nine times out of ten, the EPA is giving records to the first group for free, and that nine times out of ten they are charging groups that disagree with their policies.

Testifying recently before the Energy and Commerce Committee, EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe was asked about CEI’s claims. Mr. Perciasepe indicated that he has asked the independent office of the Inspector General to conduct a “programmatic audit” of these fee decisions.

Attorney General Eric Holder is the head of the DOJ, the agency that secretly obtained two months of phone logs for phone lines used by more than 100 Associated Press reporters without a court order. While legal, subpoenas of this nature are supposed to be authorized by the Attorney General, but this action was authorized by his deputy. On Wednesday, May 15, the Attorney General testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where he was asked about this. I watched large portions of the hearing, and was shocked as the Attorney General repeatedly replied to questions with statements along the lines of “I don’t know” or “I don’t have a factual basis to answer the questions you have asked because I recused myself.”

On Friday, May 17, ousted Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Miller stated “I don’t think targeting is wrong.”* Furthermore, the publication Politico reported that Mr. Miller “spent most of the hearing saying he didn’t remember things – like the details of how he first learned of the targeting – and insisting he didn’t mislead Congress by not telling lawmakers” when asked at a hearing in July 2012 if Tea Party and other conservative groups were being targeted by the IRS. Mr. Miller seemed to believe that asking the conservative groups questions not asked of other ideological groups did not qualify as harassment. Really?

I ask again – really? The attorney in me thinks that maybe Mr. Miller should have asked about the Fifth Amendment, and the right to remain silent. At least he should have respected the old Abraham Lincoln adage, “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

These scandals have a similar tone – one having to do with abuses of power. Investigations must continue, because there are lots of unanswered questions.

Who is responsible?

John F. Savarese and Jonathan M. Moses write in the Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter, “the voice that carries farthest within any company comes from the top – so consider having your CEO speak periodically about the importance of maintaining an effective compliance culture. …”

American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) executive director Anthony Romero sums up that principle perfectly when he says “The tone is set at the top.” He also says “the [P]resident bears responsibility for what his government officials can and should do.”

I don’t often quote the ACLU in agreement, but if the shoe fits…

An ineffective compliance culture in federal offices is a product of leadership, of those in management roles. Ultimately, that is the President. If the tone at the top is divisive and “it’s us versus them,” it serves as a signal through rhetoric and actions that the sort of behavior that led to these scandals – that led to the IRS asking the Coalition for Life of Iowa to “detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers”** – is acceptable.

Whether you call it the tone at the top or where the buck stops, it is like the motto of Democrat President Harry Truman, who had a placard on his desk that said “the buck stops here.”

Mr. President, you have set the tone. The buck stops at your desk in the Oval Office.

Thoughts and Prayers

My family and I are continuing to keep the people of Damascus in our thoughts and prayers following the Appalachian Trail Days accident on Saturday May 18.

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* http://www.youtube.com/embed/4Yk_qrAXQEQ

** http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-conservative-group-2009-members-pray-193833144.html