Democrats are set to subpoena

>Democrats are set to subpoena
>
> The new majority is expected to hold hearings on military spending
>and the Iraq war -- just for starters.
>
>By Richard B. Schmitt and Richard Simon
>Times Staff Writers
>> >
>November 10, 2006
>
>WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ike Skelton knows what he will do in
>one of his first acts as chairman of the Armed Services
>Committee in the Democratic-led House: resurrect the
>subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
>
>The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they
>won control of Congress in 1994. Now, Skelton (D-Mo.)
>intends to use it as a forum to probe Pentagon spending
>and the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war.
>
>It has been 12 years since Democrats were in control of
>both the House and Senate. But they are looking to make
>up for lost time, and in some cases, make the Bush
>administration and its business allies sweat.
>
>With control of every committee in Congress starting in
>January, the new majority will inherit broad powers to
>subpoena and investigate. And that is expected to
>translate into wide-ranging and contentious hearings.
>
>The agenda is likely to be dominated by the Iraq war,
>but could include probes into the Bush administration's
>warrantless surveillance, environmental policies and new
>prescription-drug program for seniors. Industries, such
>as oil companies, could also come under closer scrutiny.
>
>"The American people sent a clear message that they do
>not want a rubber-stamp Congress that simply signs off
>the president's agenda," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-
>Mich.), who is in line to become chairman of the House
>Judiciary Committee. "Instead, they have voted for a new
>direction for America and a real check and balance
>against government overreaching."
>
>Conyers and other Democrats say that sort of scrutiny
>has been noticeably absent over the last six years.
>Democrats accuse Republicans of being complicit as Bush
>has led the nation into an unwinnable war and adopted
>economic polices that favor the affluent and big
>business.
>
>Under Republican control, Congress did subpoena baseball
>players to discuss steroid use and summon oil industry
>executives to justify record profits at a time of high
>gasoline prices.
>
>"What we have to be wary of, and the American public
>will be wary of, is a subpoena bazaar here on Capitol
>Hill, and government by investigation by Democrats,"
>said Kevin Madden, a spokesman for House Majority Leader
>John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
>
>But even some scholars say recent GOP oversight has been
>lax. "This could be remembered as a historically unique
>period in which an administration got immunity from
>Congress to engage in errors with impunity," said
>Charles Tiefer, a University of Baltimore law professor
>and a former House counsel.
>
>Democrats face a delicate balancing test, mindful of a
>public backlash if they focus more on investigating than
>legislating.
>
>Their leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), has
>already ruled some investigations out of bounds. Conyers
>has wanted Congress to determine whether there are
>grounds to impeach Bush. But Pelosi has said that will
>not happen.
>
>While there is pent-up demand among Democrats in
>Congress and their constituencies to oversee the Bush
>administration, their new caucus will also include a
>number of moderates and conservatives, which may force
>the leadership to tone down its act.
>
>"The Democrats are going to be cross-pressured. They
>could hold impeachment hearings. They could make people
>in the Bush administration look absolutely terrible. It
>wouldn't be hard," said Joel Aberbach, a UCLA political
>science professor. "But there may be a little restraint
>because of their political needs in terms of
>consolidating themselves and looking to the 2008
>election."
>
>Democrats are expected to bore into the Iraq war,
>including review of no-bid contracts for reconstruction,
>intelligence failures and decisions to ignore the advice
>of military commanders about troop levels.
>
>"Rather than focus on the failings of the war, though,
>these events will be staged in order to highlight the
>administration's incompetence and inflexibility," said
>William Howell, an associate professor at the Harris
>School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
>
>Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the
>House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and
>investigations, said, if he becomes chairman, he would
>look into "security at our nuclear labs, oversight of
>the Food and Drug Administration, and energy policy."
>
>Now that they have the power of the subpoena, Democrats
>expect to be able to get the administration's attention.
>A number of senior Democrats have complained that the
>administration has ignored their inquiries.
>
>Rep. James L. Oberstar, the top Democrat on the House
>Transportation Committee, this year was in the middle of
>grilling Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on
>the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina when
>the Republican chairing the hearing cut him off. He had
>used his allotted five minutes.
>
>Now that Oberstar, of Minnesota, is in line to become
>the committee chairman, among his first acts is expected
>to be scrapping the five-minute rule established by the
>GOP majority.
>
>"I would guess that we're going to have some fairly long
>hearings," said Jim Berard, an Oberstar spokesman.
>
>The new Congress will also be marked by the ascendancy
>of some old watchdogs.
>
>Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) is set to head the
>House Government Reform Committee. Waxman used another
>committee to push for landmark laws reducing pesticides
>in food and regulating nursing homes in the 1980s and
>1990s. He also famously put tobacco company executives
>on the spot at a high-profile hearing in which they
>testified under oath that they did not believe that
>nicotine was addictive.
>
>Since Bush took office, Waxman has written letters to
>the White House seeking information on a wide range of
>subjects -- often getting no response. Now, with the
>power to issue subpoenas, he is likely to get answers.
>
>Waxman wants to investigate waste, fraud, profiteering
>and "whether government is doing the job it's supposed
>to do."
>
>"When Clinton was president, there was not an accusation
>too small for them not to launch investigations and
>issue subpoenas," Waxman said of congressional
>Republicans. "When Bush became president, there wasn't a
>scandal big enough for them to ignore. I think they've
>given us a good model on how not to behave."
>
>The most senior member of the House, Rep. John D.
>Dingell (D-Mich.), is also scheduled to play a crucial
>role in the new Congress, again becoming chairman of the
>House Energy and Commerce Committee.
>
>He already has a number of subjects he wants to look
>into, including the Medicare prescription drug benefit
>and an overhaul of energy policy, two of the GOP's
>proudest achievements.
>
>"We're not after anybody," Dingell said, but he said if
>anyone from the administration has "useful things to
>tell us," they will be "invited to come forward."
>
>rick.schmitt@latimes.com
>
>richard.simon@latimes.com
>
>
>
>Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times