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“TRIBUTE TO EARL DEVANEY” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Senate section on pages S8676 on Dec. 15, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO EARL DEVANEY
Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I rise today to give tribute to Mr. Earl Devaney, who will be retiring from 42 years of public service at the end of this year.
In an era when the American people have a record-level of distrust in government, Mr. Devaney has risen above partisanship as a staunch defender of taxpayers and champion of government transparency.
Devaney started his career as a cop on the beat in Massachusetts. Then, Devaney went to work for the U.S. Secret Service until 1991, where he was the Special Agent-in-Charge of the agency's fraud division. In 1999, President Clinton appointed Devaney the inspector general of the Interior Department. There, he gained wide renown for overseeing the public corruption investigations that helped lead to the convictions of Jack Abramoff, a Washington superlobbyist and major beneficiary of the congressional earmark favor factory that polluted our politics for several decades. He also presided over the landmark investigation of the royalties program in the Minerals Management Service, finding a ``culture of ethical failure'' among public officials there, involving illegal gifts, illegal drug abuse, sexual misbehavior and more.
In his role as the chief watchdog of the Department of Interior, I got to know Earl and spent significant time visiting with him. What I have learned to appreciate about him was his honesty, integrity and forthrightness.
In February 2009, President Obama named Devaney to head the Recovery Board, which is charged with overseeing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA. In this position, he was integral to making sure that the spending in the stimulus was as transparent as possible.
At the end of the year, Mr. Devaney will be resigning from three posts: the Chair of the Recovery Board, inspector general for the Department of the Interior, and Chairman of the Government Accountability and Transparency Board, the position that Vice President Biden appointed him to for managing the administration's efforts to reduce government waste and to provide ``concrete methods'' for improving oversight and transparency of Federal funds.
I can't think of a tougher defender of the interests of citizens and taxpayers in the Federal Government than Mr. Devaney. As one of the best inspectors general, his dogged pursuits of corruption and waste in government will be missed.
In his resignation letter to President Obama, Mr. Devaney thanked the President for the ``opportunities you have given me to serve my country, and I will always look fondly on my decades as a public servant.''
Mr. Devaney, the American people will also look fondly on years of public service. Thank you for all you have done.
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