Witness List for First Day of Hearings on Independent Counsel Act

News Release: Washington, DC -- Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN), Senator John Breaux (D-LA), and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) today introduced the “Regulatory Right-To-Know Act" of 1999, legislation that would require the government to disclose the benefits and costs of federal regulatory programs to the American public.

News Release: Washington, DC - Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) released a General Accounting Office (GAO) report today that criticizes computer security practices at the Internal Revenue Service.

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) has called upon the NASA Administrator to require NASA employees to fly commercial flights to Moscow instead of paying up to $20,000 per seat on chartered aircraft.

News Release: Washington, DC -- Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) today issued the following statement on Attorney General Janet Reno's decision not to appoint an independent counsel to investigate 1996 campaign finance abuses.

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC --Congress should move to a two-year budget cycle because the current annual federal budget process takes up too much of Congress' time and leaves too little for congressional oversight activities, according to U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici, R-NM, and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson, R-TN.

News Release: Washington, D.C. -- Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) announced that the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, passed by the House yesterday and the Senate today, includes language Thompson introduced that will require the government to disclose the benefits and the costs of federal regulatory programs to the American people.

News Release: Washington, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) today announced that the fiscal year 1999 Omnibus Appropriations bill, passed by the House yesterday and the Senate today, contains the language of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Thompson authored this legislation with Senators Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Strom Thurmond (R-SC) to enforce the Senate's Constitutional role in appointing important federal officials.

News Release: Washington, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) today announced that the president yesterday signed into law H.R. 930, the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998.

News Release: Washington, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) led the Senate floor debate yesterday in support of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a bill he authored with Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) to restore the Senate's authority as an institution in the process of appointing important federal officials.

News Release: Washington, DC -- Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) announced that a business meeting has been scheduled to consider the following matters...

News Release: Washington, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) has scheduled the third in a series of computer security hearings. The hearing on "Computer Security in the Federal Government: Protecting Personal Information" will be held on Wednesday, September 23 at 10 am in Room 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building and will focus on computer security vulnerabilities at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

News Release: Washington, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) has announced a hearing on the nominations of Kenneth Prewitt to be Director of the Census Bureau and Mike Walker to be Deputy Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The hearing will be held on Thursday, September 17 at 10:30 in Room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building.

News Release: Washington, DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) today called on the Senate to pass campaign finance reform legislation to correct the abuses of a current campaign finance system that is "inherently defective" and "cannot last." Excerpts follow...

News Release: Washington, DC - Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN), Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, today announced the Committee will hold a public hearing on the state of the Inspectors General (IG) community on the 20th anniversary of the Inspector General Act. The hearing on "The Inspector General Act: Twenty Years Later" will be held on Wednesday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building.

News Release: Washington, D.C. -- Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) today directed the Inspectors General of six government agencies to conduct an interagency investigation of the licensing process for dual-use items and munitions. The review is a follow up to hearings the Committee...