For the past two years, members of Congress, the Senate, the fishing industry and the press have been asking a question made famous by Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown: "What do you have to do to get fired at NOAA?"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 18, 2012 (Saving Seafood) For the past two years, members of Congress, the Senate, the fishing industry and the press have been asking a question made famous by Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown: "What do you have to do to get fired at NOAA?" None of them ever got a response. The question has always been rebuffed, with NOAA officials citing the Privacy Act as the reason they cannot comment on personnel matters. Last month, Senator Susan Collins of Maine observed that "NOAA officials' use of the Privacy Act as a sword to protect its reputation rather than as a shield, as Congress intended, to protect the privacy rights of private citizens is unacceptable."
Although NOAA has not found a way to dismiss scandal-embroiled employees, it has become clear this week that other federal agencies have figured out how to do it.
At 5:45 p.m. this afternoon, CBS News reported that three Secret Service employees have been removed in connection with the scandal involving prostitutes during the summit of the Americas attended by President Obama. One supervisor was allowed to retire, a second supervisor was "removed for cause", and a third resigned.
This morning, veteran reporter and columnist Steve Urbon of the Standard-Times, a Dow Jones paper in New Bedford, Massachusetts, wrote a column asking questions that have been on the minds of many. "…[W]hen the scandal in the General Services Administration broke two weeks ago, the GSA administrator fell through a trap door, two senior agency staffers were fired and four GSA managers were suspended. … But who is taking the fall at NOAA for the scandal in the fisheries law enforcement office? … Who at the Commerce Department has lost their job over malicious prosecutions, a luxury fishing boat for booze cruises, destruction of evidence, and a slush fund filled with the proceeds of obscenely inflated fines against fishermen? And how is it that civil service rules magically make it next to impossible to fire people at NOAA and not at GSA? Is there a different set of rules at GSA?"
Mr. Urbon, a seasoned journalist with over thirty years experience in the nation's most profitable fishing port, was inspired to write the column by a letter from Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. The Senator observed in an April 13 letter to President Obama, that the "misconduct at NOAA is even more serious than that at GSA, as the NOAA scandals involve wasteful spending that was financed through abusive treatment of both our fishermen and American taxpayer…."
The Senator's letter notes that "the Commerce Department Inspector General found that 'senior NOAA staff failed to maintain adequate controls over the millions of dollars that passed through this fund.'" With this fund, the Senator writes that NOAA purchased things like a "'$300,000 luxury fishing boat that was used to conduct weekend getaways, alcohol-fueled parties, and other joy rides' along with foreign travel. These expenses were paid for with fines that were found by an independent investigation to be excessive, and that 'NOAA was motivated by money in certain enforcement activity.'"
Senator Brown wrote the letter to ask President Obama for similar accountability at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the President, his Administration, and many Members of Congress have stated they will demand at GSA.
While Senator Brown's now-famous question is perhaps the most-quoted encapsulation of the widespread frustration surrounding this issue, numerous other members of Congress have asked for accountability, and expressed frustration at what they see as lackluster responses.
Congressman John Tierney called on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to investigate the purchase of the luxury boat, after he failed to get an answer from Commerce Secretary John Bryson on whether anyone at NOAA had been held accountable. Tierney had previously written the Secretary about the boat, and had urged him to freeze expenditures from NOAA's Asset Forfeiture Fund.
Last October, Senator John Kerry joined with Chairman Mark Begich to hold a hearing of the Oceans subcommittee of Senate Commerce in Boston to look into a number of areas of concern. Congressman Barney Frank — whose efforts on fisheries are legendary — drew laughs during questioning by congratulating Congressman Bill Keating on finally getting a definitive answer from Dr. Lubchenco when after several repetitions of the same question she finally answered "no".
Last July, Congressman Frank introduced the Asset Forfeiture Fund Reform and Distribution Act, aimed at compensating fisherman effected by the well-documented abuses at NOAA, as well as reforming the Asset Forfeiture Fund. The bill had 12 cosponsors: Rep. Joe Courtney (CT), Rep. Frank Guinta (NH), Rep. Walter Jones (NC), Rep. Bill Keating (MA), Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA), Rep. Ed Markey (MA), Rep. James McGovern (MA), Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC), Rep. Michael Michaud (ME), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ), Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME), and Rep. John Tierney (MA).
Another longtime champion of fisheries, Senator Olympia Snowe, noted that the Inspector General's "investigation shed light on deep-rooted systemic problems within the agency's enforcement practice that devastated individual fishermen, their families, and their communities," and noted that the "litany of abuses of power and draconian enforcement tactics far exceeded the authority granted to [the Office of Law Enforcement] and the standards of law enforcement activities."
Also last month, Senator Kelly Ayotte asked NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco about the misuse of funds to buy a luxury boat, Dr. Lubchenco responded "The Privacy Act constraints precludes me from commenting on actions to individuals so I cannot do that. I would love more than anything to be able to talk about some of the things we have done but that is simply not possible."
While many observers think the legal team at Commerce is giving Dr. Lubchenco very bad advice, the question that Mr. Urbon poses is simple. Why have employees at other government agencies been fired for their wrongful actions while those at NOAA are still collecting paychecks?
Read Senator Brown's letter to President Obama