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| Independence of Amtrak's Inspector General Questioned |
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For immediate release: Monday, June 29, 2009 Independence of Amtrak’s Inspector General Questioned Oversight Committee opens investigation into Amtrak IG Office Washington, DC – The Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have launched an investigation into the effectiveness and independence of the Amtrak Inspector General (IG). Committee Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) and Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) have serious questions about the autonomy of Amtrak’s Inspector General after the abrupt resignation of the agency’s long-serving IG, and an independent legal analysis commissioned by the outgoing IG which determined that Amtrak management interfered with the IG’s authority to obtain documents for investigations and to make personnel decisions for the Office of Inspector General (OIG). Towns and Issa today sent a letter to Thomas Carper, Amtrak’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, outlining their concerns regarding this matter. The Chairman and Ranking Member requested separate briefings from Amtrak’s General Counsel and the acting IG regarding the issues raised in their letter and the circumstances surrounding the departure of the IG. The letter states, “These reports cause us grave concern about the circumstances surrounding the Inspector General’s departure. We are further concerned that the board and management of Amtrak have compromised the effectiveness of the Inspector General by interfering with the independence and authority that Congress has explicitly granted to the Inspector General by statute.” The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has jurisdiction over the Inspector General Act, including recent revisions made by the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, and the oversight provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ### Documents and Links |
Committee On Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives | 2157 Rayburn House Office Building | Washington, D.C. 20515 | (202) 225-5051
