Investigative Oversight

Download or read book Investigative Oversight written by Morton Rosenburg and published by . This book was released on 2012-04-08 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The adversarial, often confrontational, and sometimes high profile nature of congressional investigations sets it apart from the more routine, accommodative facets of the oversight process experienced in authorization, appropriations or confirmation exercises. While all aspects of legislative oversight share the common goals of informing Congress so as to best accomplish its tasks of developing legislation, monitoring the implementation of public policy, and of disclosing to the public how its government is performing, the inquisitorial process also sustains and vindicates Congress' role in our constitutional scheme of separated powers and checks and balances. The rich history of congressional investigations from the failed St. Clair expedition in 1792 through Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-Contra and Whitewater has established, in law and practice, the nature and contours of congressional prerogatives necessary to maintain the integrity of the legislative role in that constitutional scheme. This report provides an overview of some of the more common legal, procedural and practical issues, questions, and problems that committees have faced in the course of an investigation. This is a print on demand report.