In the scramble to organize how auditing for the estimated
$200 billion Katrina relief and reconstruction effort will
be carried out, Government Reform Committee chairman Tom
Davis, R-Va., and chairman of the subcommittee on
Government Management, Finance, and Accountability, Todd
Platts, R-Pa., have introduced legislation creating Council
of Inspectors General “to coordinate and streamline
accountability measures for hurricane relief efforts.”
They balked at a proposal put forward by Senator Susan
Collins, R-Maine and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., to expand
the authority of the Inspector General for Iraq
Reconstruction while providing additional resources,
something they said would be up and running within ten
days of enactment and include a strategic oversight plan
that includes audits of no bid contractors as well as
coordination with oversight in the agencies and states
involved in reconstruction.
Davis said a single Special IG is insufficient and
criticized the “learning curve” that would result from
the Senate proposal, arguing instead for an oversight
office with authority to direct agency IGs already in place.
The Davis-Platts legislation would provide a statutory
underpinning for the coordination of audit activities and
authorizes funds up to $35 million for audits and
investigations through a single office at DHS.
The congressmen sent a letter to Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and DHS IG Richard
Skinner requesting a plan of action.
“The hurricane relief money is being spent right now,”
wrote Platts. “A Special IG Council will enable this
important work, which in many cases is already underway,
to be completed in the most effective manner.”