Joe Barton: “this is the body constitutionally that is closest to the people. We are the only Federal officials that have to be…”

“this is the body constitutionally that is closest to the people. We are the only Federal officials that have to be elected by the people. Therefore, we have the responsibility to conduct the oversight for the people more than any other body of the Federal Government. I would like to point out that the resolution before us today is to give some additional assets for oversight, not just the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight but some of the other committees. I am the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the Committee on Commerce, and I would point out that in the last Congress, in a bipartisan way, we did oversight over the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Energy, and other Federal agencies that resulted in significant cost savings; that resulted in significant policy changes. Let me give my colleagues an example. One of the leading causes of death among American women is breast cancer. The FDA has had under consideration for 10 years, for 10 years, a sensor pad device that a woman can use in the privacy of her home to see or give increased sensitivity to determine if there is a lump in her breast. FDA refused to approve that for over-the-counter dissemination. Because of investigations and oversight in the last Congress, in a bipartisan way, we were at least able to get the FDA to approve that for use by a physician; by a physician. There is much more that needs to be done.…”