DHS OIG Mandates Revision Act of 2014

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2651) to repeal certain mandates of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on S. 2651.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

S. 2651, the DHS OIG Mandates Revision Act of 2014, repeals three reports the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is required to conduct and submit annually to Congress. The reports include evaluations of the cargo inspection targeting system for international intermodal cargo containers, Coast Guard mission performance, and certain Department of Homeland Security grants.

Without a mandate, the Department's Office of Inspector General can continue to conduct these audits periodically, but at its own discretion. CBO estimates repeal of these mandates will save nearly $2 million to the taxpayers annually.

I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Homeland Security,

Washington, DC, December 10, 2014.

Hon. Bill Shuster,

Chairman, House Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Shuster: I write to you regarding the

jurisdictional interest of the

Committee on Homeland Security in S. 2651, the ``DHS OIG

Mandates Revision Act of 2014''. The measure passed the

Senate by unanimous consent on September 17, 2014 and was

additionally referred to the Committee on Homeland Security.

In the interest of permitting the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure to proceed expeditiously to

the House floor, I will forgo further consideration of S.

2651. However, I do so with the following reservation. By

eliminating mandates of Inspector General investigations,

Congress lessens its voice in oversight of the Department of

Homeland Security. Under this lawless Administration,

Congress should have more of a voice, not less, in what the

Office of Inspector General investigates.

In addition, I will forgo consideration with the mutual

understanding that the jurisdiction of the Committee on

Homeland Security is in no way diminished. I further request

that you urge the Speaker to name Members of this Committee

to any conference committee that is named to consider such

provisions.

Finally, I request you include this letter and your

response into the Congressional Record during consideration

of S. 2651 on the House floor. Thank your for your

cooperation.

Sincerely,

Michael T. McCaul,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of this legislation. As summarized by my colleague from California, it alleviates the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Homeland Security from having to perform three annual audits.

Repealing these audits will help to slightly reduce the burden of congressionally mandated reports. All this information is available to us in other forms and it is good to get rid of these reports, which are sometimes not really sent anyway.

By the way, Mr. Hunter, congratulations on the recently passed Coast Guard legislation.

Furthermore, eliminating the mandate will allow the IG to reallocate resources to something really useful, like finding out what went wrong, wherever it might be. This way, the legislation may improve the oversight of programs and the activities of the Department of Homeland Security, which would be extremely useful to Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 567, S. 2651.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.