The Honorable Thomas J. Bliley, Jr.
Chairman
Committee on Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Tom:

During the past two years we have tried, with mixed success, to preserve the Committee's long tradition of bipartisan and objective oversight and investigation activity and to avoid turning the Committee into the kind of mud-wrestling pit that some others have become. Thus, the sudden flurry of pre-election "oversight" letters from your office to various officials of the Clinton Administration, including the President himself, is deeply troubling .

The Congress has adjourned sine die. Most Members are campaigning for reelection in their districts. There is absolutely no likelihood of Committee hearings on any subject prior to Election Day, yet each of these letters contains a demand for an almost immediate response.

I can discern no reason apart from raw politics for these recent demands for immediate answers.

The correspondence to which I refer includes:

an October 9th letter to Secretary O'Leary asking for responses by October 11th to several questions and a large document request;

an October 10th letter to Secretary O'Leary asking for responses by October 11th to several questions and a large document request;

an October 16th letter to President Clinton asking for answers by October 21st to questions posed in an earlier September 27th letter;

an October 17th letter to Secretary Kantor asking several questions, making a document request, and demanding compliance by October 23rd;

a letter apparently sent to EPA in mid-October, not shared with us thus far, requesting answers to questions by October 23rd or 24th; and,

an October 23rd letter to Dr. Kessler at the Food and Drug Administration asking for responses to six questions by October 31st.

The pattern here is not subtle. Unless you or your staff can offer a persuasive explanation as to why such immediate deadlines are necessary, may I suggest that we leave the opposition research to the respective parties' Presidential campaign organizations and take the Committee out of this most unseemly position. To continue on your current course is to establish a terrible precedent and severely damage the credibility of the Committee's oversight activities earned through decades of bipartisan (and nonpartisan) work. We should not let Commerce Committee oversight become the playground for political hacks and hatchetmen.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

JOHN D. DINGELL
RANKING MEMBER

cc: The Honorable Joe Barton
Chairman
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

The Honorable Ron Klink
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

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