Bennie Thompson: “I now rise in strong support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek), my Homeland Security…”

“I now rise in strong support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek), my Homeland Security Committee colleague, the ranking member on the Management, Integration and Oversight Subcommittee. Mr. Chairman, we have heard testimony time and time again on our committee about the underfunding of the office of Inspector General. We had committee testimony from three Inspector Generals indicating that the office was underfunded. Just to show you what they found in recent reviews, we found that the Department spent $31,000 on rubber plants. We also found that they spent $500,000 on an awards ceremony. Clearly these expenditures are out of line and should not have been. Testimony also revealed that had we had a more robust Office of Inspector General, we could do more oversight. So the gentleman from Florida's (Mr. Meek) amendment is in order. It is something that we should do. If we look at other agencies, this Department is woefully underfunded. And for that reason I rise in support of the amendment.”