ConsumerProtection
Uncovering Waste, Fraud& Abuse and Protecting the American People
Few legislators can demonstrate a record of fighting government waste and corporate corruption like Congressman Dingell. As the first to warn against the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Stiegel Act and a leader in the effort to toughen corporate accountability after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals, Dingell has also taken the lead in exposing government waste and abuses of tax dollars. Congressman Dingell's investigations exposed what The New York Times called ‘rampant waste and fraud in Pentagon contracts' including the AirForce's $640 toilet seats. His questioning forced the resignation of a former Regan Environmental Protection Agency head and led to the criminal convictions of two former senior government officials. From 1981-1983, he headed the Congressional investigation that led to the removal of Administrator Burford and twenty top EPA officials for failing to enforce the environmental laws and other misconduct.
Dingell lead the effort to get to scrutinize the no-bid Iraq contracts given to Halliburton - the oil services corporation formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. His efforts have uncovered overcharges by the company that have cost taxpayers millions of dollars and raised serious questions about the relationship between Halliburton and the White House. Dingell also initiated the investigation by the General Accounting Office (GAO) of the Vice President's Energy Task Force, resulting the first ever lawsuit brought against the White House by the GAO.
Protecting American Families
As Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the 110th Congress, Dingell shepherded H.R.4040, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act into law. The act represents the most comprehensive overhaul of US consumer-product oversight in a generation, establishing policies to repair the Nation's broken product safety system and creating the toughest standards on lead in consumer products in the world. The bill passed in the full House by vote of 424-1 and was signed into law on August 14, 2008.
Additionally, in the 110th Congress Congressman Dingell introduced two other critical pieces of legislation: H.R. 3610- the Food and Drug Import Safety Act of 2007 and H.R.936, the Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act. H.R. 3610 will protect Americans by ensuring that our food and drug supplies remain safe and transparent, including listing country of origin. H. R. 936 seeks to eliminate pretexting, which occurs when a person obtains phone records through fraudulent means. Chairman Emeritus Dingell looks forward to continued efforts on these important pieces of legislation in the 111th Congress.
