INVESTIGATION OF THE
ENERGY TASK FORCE
The Committee on Energy and
Commerce Minority has been investigating the conduct and composition of President Bush's
Energy Task Force. Information regarding this investigation is provided on this
page.
April
19, 2001: Reps. Dingell and Waxman sent a letter to Andrew Lundquist,
Executive Director of the National Energy Policy Development Group, requesting answers to
questions and related documents. April
19, 2001: Reps. Dingell and Waxman sent a letter to David M. Walker,
U.S. Comptroller General, requesting the assistance of GAO in their investigation.
May
4, 2001: David S. Addington,
Counsel to the Vice President, wrote to Reps. Tauzin, Dingell, Burton, and Waxman
attaching "responses" from Mr. Lundquist to our letter. The response provided
none of the information requested by Reps. Dingell and Waxman (e.g., who
participated in the group, who they met with, when they met, what information was provided
to the group, or any documents related to their work). (pdf)
May 8, 2001: Peg Reese, Assistant Director, Natural Resources and Environment,
GAO, requested assistance (by fax) from David Addington, Counsel to the Vice President, in
the conduct of the GAO investigation. (pdf)
May
10, 2001: Doris E.L. Cannon,
Assistant Director, Congressional Relations, GAO, wrote to Reps. Dingell and Waxman
informing them that GAO had accepted their request. (pdf)
May
15, 2001: Reps. Dingell and Waxman wrote a second letter to Andrew
Lundquist, explaining that his initial letter was unresponsive to their request, and
retransmitted their initial letter for an adequate response. Reps. Dingell and Waxman gave
the name of contacts in the event of questions. Mr. Lundquist has not responded to this
letter.
May
16, 2001: David S. Addington,
Counsel to the Vice President, wrote to Anthony Gamboa, General Counsel, GAO, to request a
review by the Comptroller General to examine whether the "inquiry is appropriate, in
compliance with the law, and, especially in light of the information already provided as a
matter of comity, a productive use of resources." The letter also requested "a
statement of the legal authority for the GAO inquiry." (pdf)
May
22, 2001: Reps. Dingell and Waxman wrote to David S. Addington, Counsel
to the Vice President, to explain the authority of GAO, as an arm of the Congress to
investigate this matter, and to urge the Administration’s cooperation.
May 25,
2001: David S. Addington, Counsel to the Vice President, in
response to Reps. Dingell and Waxman, wrote to members of the Committees' Minority and
Majority staff concerning this matter. (pdf)
June 1,
2001: Anthony Gamboa,
General Counsel, GAO responded to David S. Addington’s letter, and stated that the
GAO review was "appropriate and required by law." (pdf)
June
7, 2001: David S. Addington,
Counsel to the Vice President, responded to Anthony Gamboa. (pdf)
June
22, 2001: Anthony
Gamboa, General Counsel, GAO, writes David S. Addington, Counsel to the Vice President,
responding to his letter of June 7, 2001. (pdf)
July 18, 2001: David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, issues a demand letter
requesting full and complete access, under 31 U.S.C. § 716(b), to records relating to the
development of the Administration's National Energy Policy. (pdf)
 News
Release by Rep.
John D. Dingell and Rep. Henry A. Waxman on GAO's issuance of a demand letter
August
2, 2001: Vice
President Cheney responds to GAO demand letter. (pdf)
August
6, 2001: U.S. General
Accounting Office releases a statement. (pdf)
August
17, 2001:
Comptroller General issues formal report regarding Vice President's Office refusal to
provide Task Force records. (pdf)
August
29, 2001: In response to a Los Angeles Times article
detailing numerous incidents of unusual access and influence by special interests, Reps.
Waxman and Dingell sent a letter to Vice President Cheney urging him to reconsider his
decision not to cooperate with the GAO. (8/26/01, Los Angeles Times, "Bush's
Energy Plan Bares Industry Clout") (pdf)
September
7, 2001: GAO issues statement on adequacy of information
received from the Vice President's Office in response to the August 17, 2001, Comptroller
General report. (pdf)
September
28, 2001: GAO issues statement of concern regarding the
failure of the Vice President's Office to provide the requested information on the Task
Force. (pdf)
January
9, 2002: GAO statement indicating that it would decide within one month
whether to file a lawsuit. January
24, 2002: Reps. Dingell and Waxman sent a letter to David M. Walker,
U.S. Comptroller General, urging GAO to proceed with its lawsuit against Vice President's
Office.
January
24, 2002: Rep. Dingell's op-ed in the New York Times, "Who Helped Cheney?" (1/24/02, The
New York Times On The Web) (pdf)
January
30, 2002: Reps. Waxman and Dingell sent a letter to Vice
President Cheney detailing the extensive precedent for GAO's requests for White House
energy task force records. (pdf)
January
30, 2002:
GAO's
letter to Minority Leader Gephardt announcing that GAO will sue the Administration to
obtain access to records of the White House energy task force chaired by Vice President
Cheney. (pdf)
February
22, 2002: GAO files suit in the U.S. District Court in
Washington, D.C. to obtain certain records in connection with the National Energy Policy
Development Group (NEPDG). (pdf)
News
Release by Rep. John D. Dingell
concerning the lawsuit filed by GAO
December 9, 2002: Decision of the United States District Court for
the District of Columbia on Civil Action No. 02-0340 (JDB) David M. Walker, Comptroller
General of the United States vs. Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States
and Chair, National Energy Policy Development Group (pdf)
Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell on the
GAO Lawsuit Decision
|
