January, 31 2011, 02:06pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Garrett Russo 202.408.5565
CREW Uncovers 33 Letters to Issa; 10 Groups Refuse to Share
In less than a week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington (CREW) has been able to gather and post 33 letters Rep.
Darrell Issa (R-CA) received from corporations, trade groups and
research organizations. In December, Rep. Issa, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent letters
to more than 150 groups, allegedly to identify federal regulations that
negatively impact the economy and jobs. Rep.
WASHINGTON
In less than a week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington (CREW) has been able to gather and post 33 letters Rep.
Darrell Issa (R-CA) received from corporations, trade groups and
research organizations. In December, Rep. Issa, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent letters
to more than 150 groups, allegedly to identify federal regulations that
negatively impact the economy and jobs. Rep. Issa had requested a
response by January 10th. Despite the congressman's commitment to transparency and CREW's repeated requests, Rep. Issa has refused
to post either his letters, or the responses received. Chairman Issa
also has refused to share the responses with the committee's ranking
members, Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Last week, in a letter to Rep. Cummings, Rep. Issa said he would share any replies as well as his analysis of those replies, on February 11th.
Today, CREW is posting 33 replies sent to Chairman Issa in response
to his letters. Ten of the recipients refused CREW's request to make
their response public; and 64, including ExxonMobil, have yet to respond
to CREW. CREW will continue to post responses received or otherwise
discovered.
"Chairman Issa claims to be committed to transparency, but his
actions don't match his words," said CREW Executive Director Melanie
Sloan. "Considering how easy it has been for CREW to obtain and post
many of these letters so quickly, it is hard to understand why Chairman
Issa is stalling, or what he hopes to gain by refusing to make the
letters public." Sloan continued, "Trade groups and industry may have
legitimate concerns over some regulations. But, if Congress is going to
consider rolling back laws intended to protect the public, Americans
deserve to know who's asking for what repeal and why. There should be
no backroom deals behind closed doors."
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials -- regardless of party affiliation -- who sacrifice the common good to special interests. CREW advances its mission using a combination of research, litigation and media outreach.
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