Transcripts For CSPAN Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz

Inspector Michael Horowitz American University sylvia burwell. Staff, students and viewers at home, good afternoon to you all. My name is Camille Nelson and i had the privilege of serving as a dean of the Washington College of law and its my pleasure to welcome you to this beautiful canvas for such an important conversation on government oversight and accountability and in conjunction with the launch of our new student publication. Oversight project. Org. This project is yet another example of the work of our student leaders integrating a go to source about the work of federal oversight accountability and ethics watchdogs. We could not be more proud of our students, their effort and their enthusiasm here at Washington College of law. Our Law School Community is especially grateful at the launch of this project is made possible and is elevated by leading experts who will share their insights and accountability with us today. So my warm welcome again please, join me in welcoming this event professor he faculty director of the Washington College of law and government program. Thank you fernando. applause thank you very much dean nelson and welcome everyone. Im faculty director for the government here at the university of Washington College of law and order please youre joining us today to celebrate the launch of oversight project adored and a student blog covering the work of the oversight and the community. We want to get to it and we say the politics and timing is everything and thats as true as could be in respect todays topic. Will be hearing from two speakers and turning to chat with you are there guests and followed by questions from the audience. Students who have to leave for a 1 00 class you are welcome to do so and will be affected and will close by 1 30. A reminder, that you can find our new blog at oversight project. Org. You can join the conversation on twitter at hashtag oversight blogger lunch. Our first speaker is sylvia burwell, the American University 15th president and the first one to serve as president. They share a leader or the experience and the private sectors and president parallel joined the university in 2017. She has been concerned by the senate to two cabinet positions and serving as the 22nd secretary of the department of health and Human Services. Prior to that, as director of the office of management and budget. In addition to the numerous other positions in government, president burwell as out leadership a two at the largest foundations in the world, serving 11 years at the Melinda Gates foundation and the officer and president of Global Development and president of the walmart foundation. She had a bachelors degree in government and in philosophy politics and economics from the university of oxford. Please join me in welcoming sylvia burwell. applause thank you for that introduction fernando laguarda. I want to thank you for your leadership of our Conference Today and your work on our new blog and our nations Inspector General and oversight accountability community. I want to thank our Remarkable Group of gas for coming today and a steam journalist bob award word and jason fits and the department of justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz and the attendees from the Inspector General for an fish and sea and integrity and thank you all for coming. A group of this caliber speaks very highly of the importance of the topic at hand. Which in recent events i think is at the forefront of our discourse while timing is everything this was mentioned in the American University is employing this credible goal topic in our society in today theres actually no different and i also want to thank everyone in attendance from our students to, our staff and ig offices here and the office of special counsel thats represented here today and you are faculty. Its fitting that todays event was in the Washington College of law because more than a century ago, two women were denied access to legal information because of their gender. That are motivated by the reference in respect for the law that they went ahead and found a lawsuit on their own. They would be the First Law School founded by women that had a female dean and a female class. That founding of washington law in that same fidelity to the law and courage in the w. Seal has assembled today and its what drew the people that served in our Nation Special counsel and Inspector General offices to their tireless work for accountable transparent government and work that is vital for our democracy. Ive been fortunate to have experience with the Inspector Generals and i should probably clarify that all those in actions routine. As secretary of health and service under president obama, i served with the ig and a few years before that i was in the Clinton Administration i. Had the chance to work with the ig in the ig staff at the treasury department. In addition to that when for the first time i was in round one i served as the convenor of all the ig is because the onb for management brings together all of the igs and the deputy and had the chance to bring all of the ideas come together in our efforts to share insights and to share challenges. As well as best practices. When i saw the group of Public Servants committed to the government, committed to being a strong and independent voice. The independent voice that this role requires. But i also saw a group that would not confuse independence with isolation. And in treasury as well in the ages. We saw our ig not as different overseers but as independent actual assets to the department. We wanted as much as appropriate and possible, to have their expertise and their insight as part of our initial deliberation. When theyre on the front end of those laws. Looking to ensure that the policies and programs we designed and implemented as part of the executive branch, that the highest standards of fidelity to the law. Fidelity to the level of excellence that our nation deserves. In short, we wanted to collaborate relationship. I wanted to admit that it wasnt always easy. By design, the relationship between appointees and i jeez is meant to be challenging. But with hard work with, an open door and a shared foundation, a Foundation Based on the idea that Good Government is always the ultimate goal. We could make an impact together for the people that we were in government to serve. Today, a couple of years removed from my most recent government service, im thankful to have been a part of the uplifting work and im thankful now to be part of that Academic Community to find ways to have Public Service and ensure that the people on the front lines will connect with scholars as well as our students and leading the next generation of Inspector Generals and special counsels. Thats the higher purpose of Higher Education and looking to advance scholarship and apply those learning and insights into action. Youll see it in todays conference and youll see it under new signing institute of policy and politics. Or leading practitioners and policy makers at are coming together with students to address the challenges of our time. Youll see it in our work to get back to things like our executive education work and the programming offered to actual i jeez and other federal executive through the key executive leadership. I can assure you that there is nothing sneaky about the College Campus and gone are the days of isolated showers. American university is a chance we are changemakers on the move. Searching for new ways to make an impact. In 41 years ago, when president carter side the Inspector General act of 1978, he said that the audience that they was gathered for a matter of public trust. For a decade since, through today, our nations Inspector Generals and special councils of bid the work to protect that trust. And so, we are fortunate for their service. Thank you for letting me join you all today and i hope that you enjoy the rest of the conversations, thank you all. applause thank you very much president sylvia burwell. Our next speaker is former congressman from 2009 through 2007 and he was chair of the committee on oversight perform from 2015 until stepping down. A graduate of bringing Young University and mr. Jason chaffetz chief of staff with a John Huntsman prior to his election to congress, a champion of oversight to the executive branch and is currently a contributor to fox news. Please join me in welcoming the former congressman, Jason Chaffetz to the Washington College of law. applause thank you so much for having me. I heard theres pizza and i do just about anything parasites of pieces whole wasnt hard to get me here. I really do appreciate it and i have up my hats off on this project. It really is one of the more impressive important things that ive seen and im very surprised to see it. But very glad to see it because you know what, theres already somebody doing something stupid somewhere. When you have a federal bureaucracy as big as it is this oversight concept is pivotal. It really is pivotal. Back in 1814, the Early Congress decided to create a committee that was under a different name but back in 1814 they created was was today modernday Oversight Committee. They decided that i responded sure would happen in our congress and we need to have some congressional oversight and that was the purview of what we are supposed to do and the committee grew and expanded at some point it, had 70 plus members on it and contracted it back and different gyrations and different names and interesting to me, back in the mid 1800s there, was a young man who was elected from the state of illinois and he was the freshman of the committee and not the most glamorous committee and operations and all of these other ones with the a committees so we took this young freshman out of illinois and very quickly hearing the reputation, his nickname was spotty. He wasnt known as honest abe back then but was known as abraham lincoln, freshman from illinois but they call them spotty. The reason they call them spotty is because he immediately addressed the president because he did not believe that the Mexican American war started in the spot that the president said it started. He had a series of speeches and tell me exactly where those shots were fired. You havent produced them, where was the spot . The earned a reputation because theyre traveling the country and a president of communication and didnt have laws with communication and that is what he did. He found some friends around the country and the presidency to the fire and was more right than wrong and is a very important illustration to grab in this situation in outpouring it is. Fast forward to todays modern day and the Oversight Committee. Theres a lot of work that has to be done. When they first came on to this committee, we were off to the races. I dont think it matters who is the president. Whether its a democrat or republican, we have to set that aside but our founders believe that this nation was different. Its easier if youre a monarch, its easier if the United States congress was not built for speed, it was not the easiest path from get to hear that there. What it does require as i like to hear from Ronald Reagan is that you can trust but verify. Think about how big the federal government is now. Its 2. 2 million federal employees be. Government will spend more than four four trillion dollars. Its hard to get your arms around how big a trillion is. If you spend 1 Million Dollars a day, every day will take you more than 3000 years to get to one trillion. We spend one trillion dollars every 90 days. So, when i say theres already somebody doing something stupid somewhere, its true. There are mistakes that needs to be learned. These are the problems on the move this forward. He needs to be as objective as it can possibly be. Politics in this town is just naughty, its crazy on both ends of the spectrum. What congress be the political machine that it is is the way our founders envisioned it. But oversight true, good oversight is supposed to be as objective as a possibly can. When i first came to congress i, had no idea what Inspector General did and it sounded like a couple of nerves with green visor is on and i had no idea. When you go and you pull back the layer and you peel the onion if you will there are 72 inspectors general when theyre actually appointed and referred by the senate and there are ten vacancies right now and there should be fully staffed. They have 13,500 employees and some of these organizations are rather large and 40 or 50 or so employees in these groups. They are the eyes in the years that congress will never ever be. I have always believed that if you can get more exposure to the American Public as to whats going on the better off are going to be and my biggest fear was that we had all these inspectors general and doing all those good work and then the issue to report after a year or two of investigation just sat on some shelf and no one paid intend to do it. Congress is notorious for having seven miles wide and a half inch deep and it doesnt have the bandwidth to dive deep the way the Inspector General can do so. So, what i get excited about in this project is interesting to see how it morphs over the course of time and to give a better exposure so the people will have an interest in the interior department and can go deep on that. If theyre interested of taking a dive deep into that it is the American People who have a bill. This project has the potential of being one of the best conduits to get that information without the filtering that they want to lay on top of it. To whats really going on and the challenge for you along the way is to be as objective as possible. Leave the subjectivity to a political twist for comments or another avenue to do it and getting information on how you do that. I think the credibility that you could bring to this university really has the opportunity as much as anything else ive seen out there to take this to a whole another level with the Communications Era and so different than how i grew up. The young people in this room are changing the world and or process information. We could blossom into what it is they wanted to be but if you do so it doesnt become a partisan collection until one party or the other and i think you will achieve the success that i will benefit all americans and have the ability to have a degree of credibility that very few others along the way. Once i conclude, on hes a hats off to those involved in the Inspector General community. Ive had several friends we recognize some faces here before the committee and i had a great experience and i see some people that might one have a word with me afterwards but. I think mr. Horowitz is in the hot seat here. I want to thank him for his service and to deal with in his group and henry kirner is on our staff and taken on the rolls. We have a lot of good people here and a lot of good work and it doesnt go recognized but i for one hopefully represent the people to give a lot of things and appreciation for what you do and how you do it and as pivotal to a good quality function of government in the american taxpayers prowl. Thank you for your service, thank you for having here today and congratulations on this new blog. Appreciate it, thank you. applause thank you very much mister Jason Chaffetz. Our next two speakers need no introduction even outside of washington but im going to introduce them as i asked them to please join me on stage. As they come up a provide a brief bio. Bob woodward is an associate editor for the Washington Post and has been there since 1971. After graduating from university and serving the navy. He has shared and tripled surprises and in 1973 for coverage of the watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein and second into thousand three as the lead reporter for the coverage of the 9 11 terrorist attack. Mr. Woodward has coauthored and authored 19 books all of which have been national non fiction bestsellers. Hes written books on nine of the most recent president s from nixon to trump. Including his latest book, here with trump in the white house. Michael horowitz is the Inspector General of the department of justice and share of the Legal Counsel and the integrity and efficiency. As Inspector General, he oversees more than 450 special agents and inspectors and attorneys and staff. His mission is to detect and deter waste, fraud and abuse of his conduct in doj programs and to promote economy and efficiency and department operations. 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