“As Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, I know that during his time as Chair and Ranking Member of our Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Norm Coleman has uncovered over $80 billion of government waste, fraud and abuse.  Norm has been aggressive in protecting taxpayers, and rooting out corruption.  His leadership is marked by groundbreaking reforms in Medicare, the United Nations and border security. 

 

It is simply untrue, and irresponsible, to suggest that while Norm Coleman was investigating corruption here at home, that investigations in Iraq were not going on.  Both Senator Coleman and the current PSI Chair Senator Carl Levin made the right choice in keeping their focus on protecting taxpayers through their investigations.  There were other committees, agencies and departments, including in particular, the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction (SIGIR), created by Congress, with a multi-million dollar budget, to conduct oversight of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) and all obligations, expenditures, and revenues associated with reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in Iraq via independent audits, field inspections, and criminal investigations into potential fraud, waste, and abuse of funds.  Norm Coleman and Carl Levin have a well-deserved reputation as tough, independent-minded leaders on PSI.”

 

###