Frank Riggs: “Mr. Speaker, Section 107 of the House rules package directs the House Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive House…”

“Mr. Speaker, Section 107 of the House rules package directs the House Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive House audit. This will be both a financial and performance audit of all House services and operations. Mr. Speaker, 39 months ago in October 1991, I stood on this very spot and called for full disclosure of Members with House bank overdrafts. A key to restoring the credibility of Congress, I said then, was to hold ourselves accountable. And I and 6 of my colleagues, the so-called Gang of 7, pressed for an open House. Our calls for candor were met with intransigence, but the outrage of the American people was overwhelming. We did learn the details of the House bank overdrafts, and let me stress to my colleagues who are listening now that that one specific limited GAO audit of a House function, a House service, led to several criminal convictions. My colleagues, we introduced a bill one year later in October 1992, House Resolution 595, to require an independent House audit. Today's House action is the culmination of that effort.”