Y 4. In 8:95-35 95-1 HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE NINETY-FIFTH CONGRESS COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE HARLEY O. STAGGERS, West Virginia, Chairman JOHN E. MOSS, California LIONEL VAN DEERLIN, California RICHARDSON PREYER, North Carolina PHILIP R. SHARP, Indiana JAMES J. FLORIO, New Jersey ANTHONY TOBY MOFFETT, Connecticut JIM SANTINI, Nevada ANDREW MAGUIRE, New Jersey MARTY A. RUSSO, Illinois EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts THOMAS A. LUKEN, Ohio DOUG WALGREN, Pennsylvania BOB GAMMAGE, Texas ALBERT GORE, JR., Tennessee BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland SAMUEL L. DEVINE, Ohio JAMES T. BROYHILL, North Carolina MICHAEL R. LEMOV, Chief Counsel FRANCES WHITE, Deputy Chief Counsel RONALD CORMIER, Auditor (on detail from the General Accounting Office) J. THOMAS GREENE, Counsel to the Chairman BERNARD J. WUNDER, JR., Minority Counsel (II) Blum, Barbara, Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Campbell, Hon. Alan K., Chairman, U.S. Civil Service Commission__ Cohen, David, president, Common Cause.. Cormier, Ronald J. (on temporary assignment from the General Accounting Office), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.. Frick, G. William, General Counsel, Environmental Protection Goldsmith, Fred J., Chief, Internal Review and Security Division, Federal Communications Commission_.. Goodman, Carl F., General Counsel, U.S. Civil Service Commission.... James, Michael A., Deputy General Counsel, Environmental Pro- Kennedy, Donald, M.D., Commissioner, Food and Drug Administra- tion, Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Lichtwardt, Richard D., Executive Director, Federal Communications Merrill, Richard A., Chief Counsel, Food and Drug Division, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, Department of Health, Meyer, Gerald F., Associate Commissioner for Administration, Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.... Reich, David, Ethics Counsel, U.S. Civil Service Commission... Schroeher, Kathy, member, Issue Development Staff, Common Cause. Wiley, Hon. Řichard É., Chairman, Federal ́ Communications Additional information submitted for the record by- Common Cause, attachment to Mr. Cohen's prepared statement, Excerpts from transcript of proceedings, HEW, FDA, OTC 97 Material relating to FDA survey of the Executive Secretaries of Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Committee on Interstate Attachment to Mr. Cormier's prepared statement, Conflicts of interest statistical summary of staff study. Correspondence between subcommittee and the Environmental Protection Agency subsequent to the hearings regarding EPA's Additional information-Continued Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Committee on Interstate Correspondence between subcommittee and the Federal Com- Correspondence between subcommittee and the Food and Drug Correspondence between subcommittee and the U.S. Civil Service List of General Accounting Office reports issued on agencies' Page 52 118 171 147 Memorandum dated December 14, 1964, from Chairman Macy to Memorandum dated March 22, 1977, from Associate Com- U.S. Civil Service Commission: Letter dated April 20, 1976, from Carl F. Goodman, General Letter dated August 16, 1976, from Carl F. Goodman, General Appendix-Staff Study on Conflict of Interest in Regulatory Agencies, 144 57 61 67 161 150 168 143 171 177 CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN REGULATORY AGENCIES MONDAY, MAY 23, 1977 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS, COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, in room 2322, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John E. Moss, chairman, presiding. Mr. Moss. The committee will be in order. Today we begin 2 days of hearings on a subject which goes to the heart of the regulatory process: The maintenance of public confidence in the integrity of regulatory officials by insuring their freedom from conflict of interest. Regulatory programs are certain to fail if public trust in them or in the people who run them is lacking. There is no more effective way to destroy public confidence in government than the fact or appearance of bias or conflict. An essential task for every Federal agency, therefore, is to establish and carry out a program to prevent conflicts of interest from arising and to eliminate them without delay whenever they appear. At the beginning of this Congress, this subcommittee set out to learn whether the agencies under our jurisdiction have programs in place to prevent conflicts of interest; and, if so, whether they are working effectively. This is a subject which we explored in our report at the end of the last Congress, "Federal Regulation and Regulatory Reform." We are holding these hearings now to examine in further detail the functioning of current systems for avoiding conflicts and the adequacy of current Federal laws governing conflicts of interest. I have asked the staff to open these hearings with a report to the subcommittee on the findings of their investigation. Much to my distress, the staff found serious problems at all levels, including the highest among Commissioners themselves. More significantly, today's staff presentation points to a laxity on the part of the agencies and the Civil Service Commission that goes deep, and must be reversed, dramatically and immediately, if we are to maintain even basic levels of integrity in the Federal service. To this end, we have invited the responsible officials from each of the agencies covered in this study. Today, following the staff testimony, we will ask the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and the Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to respond to the staff findings on conflicts in these agencies. (1) |