WASHINGTON D.C. – The House Republican Conference today selected Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to serve as the next Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Issa first came to the Committee in 2005, served as the Subcommittee Chairman of Energy and Resources from 2005-2006, and has been the panel’s Ranking Member since 2008.
“It’s always easier to be careless with other people’s money and the fact that Washington has somehow institutionalized waste, fraud and abuse is indicative of how broken this place has become. At a time when a debate is unfolding over taxation, jobs, debt and the future economic health of our nation, the American people would have more confidence in government’s decisions if it weren’t so systemically dysfunctional to the point where it pays out $125 billion of money it shouldn’t have,” said Issa referring to a recently released report by the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) revealing that the federal government’s improper payments for FY-2010 totaled $125 billion, $15 billion higher than the previous year.
“Darrell has built a strong record of conducting vigilant and meaningful oversight that has exposed a federal bureaucracy over-run by inefficiency and waste,” said House Speaker-Designate John Boehner (R-OH) supporting Issa’s appointment. “He understands how critical it is to address the waste, fraud and abuse from within government so that we can be better stewards of the taxpayer’s dollars and as we work to deliver to the American people a government that is more transparent and accountable”
As Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Issa has aggressively pursued an agenda that has focused on transparency and government accountability:
- Exposed Countrywide’s VIP Program and released a report chronicling the program’s sphere of influence
- Fighting to protect the FOIA process at the SEC after the Dodd-Frank bill shielded the SEC from having to respond to FOIA’s
- Aggressively fought for a hearing to probe the full nature of NHTSA’s relationship with industry resulting in the appearance of Akio Toyoda and Sec. Ray LaHood
- Pushed for an investigation that uncovered the true nature of AIG’s bailout
- Continued the investigation of broken oil drilling regulator MMS that began in 2005
- Called attention to the FDA’s broken bureaucracy and the urgent need to reform it
- Authored legislation targeting the RNC’s deceptive practice of using census look-alike mailers
- Investigation into Johnson and Johnson regarding the recall of children’s medicine and Motrin
