NEW BEDFORD — A scathing report by the U.S. Commerce Department's inspector is grounds for the removal of Jane Lubchenco from the helm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said Thursday.
“She's in charge of that agency and I don't think she's doing her job,” Frank told The Standard-Times.
Lubchenco should have known about and corrected mismanagement and misuse of funds within her agency after a year and a half on the job, Frank said. He added that she and her agency remain hostile to the fishing community, treating fishermen like criminals.
The inspector general's report spelled out in some detail the misuse of funds from the Asset Forfeiture Fund, collected from fishermen caught in violation of the law. The report listed purchases of such things as a $300,000 luxury undercover boat, personal cars for everyone in the law enforcement division regardless of need, and a trip for 15 to Norway for a fishery enforcement conference.
In a radio interview, Frank said, “I believe the time has come to appoint a new head of NOAA, and put somebody in there who's really going to embrace what we need.”
Earlier this year Frank expressed frustration with Lubchenco, and Thursday he said that his skepticism has moved into a conclusion: “I think it's time for Lubchenco to go.”
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