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Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., announced today that an "interim agreement" had been reached with the Administration on efforts to obtain material from three federal agencies. Committee staff members will be granted immediate access to documents they had sought in an effort to determine how and why the agencies decided to roll back or weaken important environmental and health protections issued by the previous Administration.
The agreement "avoids a constitutional and legal confrontation -- at least for now, " said Lieberman. "We have affirmed the principle that Congressional oversight committees must have access to the material they need to conduct their oversight responsibilities. But we have also affirmed the principle that our interest is in information, not confrontation; oversight, not overkill." The Governmental Affairs Committee is charged with overseeing the operations of the Executive Branch.
Lieberman launched his investigation in March, seeking information about the announced plans to delay or suspend the Environmental Protection Agency's rule limiting the amount of cancer-causing arsenic in drinking water, the Interior Department's rule protecting public lands from the toxic effects of mining, and the Agriculture Department's rule barring road building and other developments in national forests. In each of those cases, the agency moved to suspend or significantly weaken the rule adopted by the Clinton Administration. Each of those regulations had been issued after lengthy deliberations, and after the public had extensive opportunities to comment on the proposals.
In June, upon assuming Chairmanship of the Committee and having receiving inadequate responses to his initial letters, the Senator warned that he would commence the process of issuing subpoenas to obtain the key documents reflecting the decision-making processes. In response, the agencies produced some documents, but withheld certain of the most important ones -- those reflecting high-level deliberations, those dealing with ongoing rule making and litigation, and communications with the White House and OMB. The agreement reached with the Administration last night will allow free and unfettered access to all those previously withheld documents, with the sole caveat that information will not be publicly released unless the Administration is first given the opportunity to object to the release. Lieberman reserved the right to consider seeking subpoenas at a later date if further material is sought with which the Administration is not forthcoming.
The review of these documents, and the continued investigation into these regulatory rollbacks, ensures the transparency of the administrative process. "Our goal is one thing," concluded Lieberman, "to get the information we need to conduct oversight, not to issue subpoenas or play politics."
Senator Lieberman's Statement
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