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Departments of Labor Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 - Continued

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 17, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Labor Unions Health and Health Care Education


DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008, Continued -- (Senate - October 17, 2007)

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AMENDMENT NO. 3332 TO AMENDMENT NO. 3325

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The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To require the Departments to establish and maintain on their website home pages a direct link to the websites of their Inspectors General and for other purposes)

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

Sec. __. Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Departments, agencies, and commissions funded under this Act, shall establish and maintain on the homepages of their Internet websites--

(1) a direct link to the Internet websites of their Offices of Inspectors General; and

(2) a mechanism on the Offices of Inspectors General website by which individuals may anonymously report cases of waste, fraud, or abuse with respect to those Departments, agencies, and commissions.

Mrs. McCASKILL. I ask unanimous consent to add Senator DeMint as a cosponsor of the amendment.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mrs. McCASKILL. Madam President, we have successfully added this amendment to all appropriations bills to date. It is a very simple amendment. It requires the Departments under this bill to maintain a direct link to the agency's inspector general Web site, on the home page of his or her department's Web site. It requires this direct link because the information the inspector general provides to the public needs to be easily available. They are the eyes and ears of the taxpayers in many ways. They are on the front lines in terms of waste, fraud, and abuse. They provide a valuable service. In many departments, one can't find the information. This amendment will require that on the home page of the Web sites of the Departments of Education, Labor Health and Human Services, there be a direct link to the inspector general of that Department's Web site so taxpayers, Members of Congress, and members of the executive branch can easily find the important information that is provided by the inspector general's office.

I urge passage of the amendment.


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