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Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (view source)

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The '''Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations''' ('''PSI''') of the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs]] is currently [[chairman|chaired]] by [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Norm Coleman]] (R-[[Minnesota|MN]]), with [[Carl Levin]] (D-[[Michigan|MI]]) as a [[ranking member]]. Senators [[Ted Stevens]] (R-Alaska), [[Daniel K. Akaka]] (D-Hawaii), [[Tom Coburn]] (R-Oklahoma), [[Thomas R. Carper]] (D-Delaware), [[Lincoln D. Chafee]] (R-Rhode Island), [[Mark Dayton]] (D-Minnesota), [[Robert F. Bennett]] (R-Utah), [[Frank Lautenberg]] (D-New Jersey), [[Pete V. Domenici]] (R-New Mexico), [[Mark Pryor]] (D-Arkansas), and [[John W. Warner]] (R-Virginia) also serve on the subcommittee.

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In [[2004]]–[[2005]], the subcommittee began investigating abuses in the [[United Nations]] [[Oil-for-Food program]] in which the Swiss company Cotecna paid [[UN Secretary General]] [[Kojo Annan]]'s son consulting fees.

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In 2004–2005, the subcommittee began investigating abuses in the [[United Nations]] [[Oil-for-Food program]] in which the Swiss company Cotecna paid [[UN Secretary General]] [[Kojo Annan]]'s son consulting fees.

==History==

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The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is the oldest subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, having been created at the same time as the Committee on Government Operations in [[1952]].

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The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is the oldest subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, having been created at the same time as the Committee on Government Operations in 1952.

According to Ruth Young Watt, chief clerk of the subcommittee for more than 30 years, the subcommittee calls itself "permanent" but it really is not; nor is it independent of the full Government Operations (now Governmental Affairs) Committee. The PSI has, however, been a useful and powerful tool for several of the chairmen of the committee because it has a broad mandate to investigate inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption in government.

==Truman Committee==

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The PSI is sometimes thought of as the successor to the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, [[1941]]-[[1948]], also known as the "Truman Committee". The Truman Committee under then Senator [[Harry S. Truman]] established a process and precedent whereby investigators could obtain copies of an individual or other entities [[tax return]]. When the Truman Committee was terminated in 1948, the Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments continued that committee's investigation of war contracts and procurement of the [[F-11]], the so-called "[[flying boat]]". The subcommittee also assumed responsibility for the records of the Truman Committee.

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The PSI is sometimes thought of as the successor to the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, 1941-1948, also known as the "Truman Committee". The Truman Committee under then Senator [[Harry S. Truman]] established a process and precedent whereby investigators could obtain copies of an individual or other entities [[tax return]]. When the Truman Committee was terminated in 1948, the Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments continued that committee's investigation of war contracts and procurement of the [[F-11]], the so-called "[[flying boat]]". The subcommittee also assumed responsibility for the records of the Truman Committee.

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Under the chairmanship of [[Homer S. Ferguson]] of Michigan (1948) and [[Clyde R. Hoey]] of [[North Carolina]] ([[1949]]-[[1952]]), the Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments held hearings on such matters as [[International Trade Administration|export control]] violations, for which Soviet spy [[William Remington]] was called in to testify; the trial of [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[war crime|war criminal]] [[Ilse Koch]]; and the [[Mississippi]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]'s sale of postal jobs, which Mississippians from rural areas attested to purchasing. A much larger scandal erupted with the "''5 percenters''," so-called because these men, including Presidential aide Gen. Harry Vaughan, were accused of charging a 5-percent commission for their influence in securing government contracts. A legislative reform as a result of the hearings was a restriction of one year after leaving government employment before an attorney could practice law again before the government.

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Under the chairmanship of [[Homer S. Ferguson]] of Michigan (1948) and [[Clyde R. Hoey]] of [[North Carolina]] (1949-1952), the Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments held hearings on such matters as [[International Trade Administration|export control]] violations, for which Soviet spy [[William Remington]] was called in to testify; the trial of [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[war crime|war criminal]] [[Ilse Koch]]; and the [[Mississippi]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]'s sale of postal jobs, which Mississippians from rural areas attested to purchasing. A much larger scandal erupted with the "''5 percenters''," so-called because these men, including Presidential aide Gen. Harry Vaughan, were accused of charging a 5-percent commission for their influence in securing government contracts. A legislative reform as a result of the hearings was a restriction of one year after leaving government employment before an attorney could practice law again before the government.

==McCarthy==

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In the 83rd Congress, under its new chairman, [[Joseph McCarthy|Joseph R. McCarthy]] of [[Wisconsin]], the subcommittee (now known as the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) greatly increased the number of investigations and number of witnesses called. His subcommittee held 169 hearings throughout [[1953]] and [[1954]]. Of the 653 persons called by the Committee during a 15 month period, 83 refused to answer questions about [[espionage]] and [[subversion (political)|subversive]] activities on constitutional grounds and their names were made public. Nine additional witnesses invoked the [[Fifth Amendment]] in executive session, and their names were not made public. Some of the 83 were working or had worked for the Army, the Navy, the Government Printing Office, the [[Treasury Department]], the [[Office of War Information]], the [[Office of Strategic Services]], and the Veterans Administration. Others were or had been employed at the Federal Telecommunications Laboratories in New Jersey, the secret radar laboratories of the [[Army Signal Corps]] in New Jersey, and [[General Electric]] defense plants in Massachusetts and New York. Nineteen of the 83, including well known communist party members James S. Allen, Herbert Aptheker, and [[Earl Browder]], were summoned because their writings were being carried in [[USIA|U.S. Information Service]] libraries around the world.

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In the 83rd Congress, under its new chairman, [[Joseph McCarthy|Joseph R. McCarthy]] of [[Wisconsin]], the subcommittee (now known as the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) greatly increased the number of investigations and number of witnesses called. His subcommittee held 169 hearings throughout 1953 and 1954. Of the 653 persons called by the Committee during a 15 month period, 83 refused to answer questions about [[espionage]] and [[subversion (political)|subversive]] activities on constitutional grounds and their names were made public. Nine additional witnesses invoked the [[Fifth Amendment]] in executive session, and their names were not made public. Some of the 83 were working or had worked for the Army, the Navy, the Government Printing Office, the [[Treasury Department]], the [[Office of War Information]], the [[Office of Strategic Services]], and the Veterans Administration. Others were or had been employed at the Federal Telecommunications Laboratories in New Jersey, the secret radar laboratories of the [[Army Signal Corps]] in New Jersey, and [[General Electric]] defense plants in Massachusetts and New York. Nineteen of the 83, including well known communist party members James S. Allen, Herbert Aptheker, and [[Earl Browder]], were summoned because their writings were being carried in [[USIA|U.S. Information Service]] libraries around the world.

The hearings also investigated such matters as [[communist]] [[Infiltration tactics|infiltration]] of the [[United Nations]]; [[Korean War]] atrocities; and the transfer to the [[Soviet Union]] of occupation [[Counterfeit|currency plates]].

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==Labor racketeering==

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From [[1955]] until [[1972]], [[John L. McClellan]] of [[Arkansas]] chaired the PSI. McClellan continued extensive hearings of the Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and added new inquiries relating to communist activities in the United States and to business activities and alleged improper activities by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower Administration]] appointees and political associates. In the 86th Congress ([[1957]]), members of the Subcommittee were joined by Members of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee on a special committee to investigate labor racketeering. Chaired by Senator McClellan and staffed by [[Robert F. Kennedy]], the Subcommittee’s Chief Counsel, and other staff members, this special committee directed much of its attention to criminal influence over the [[Teamsters|International Brotherhood of Teamsters]], most famously calling Teamsters’ leaders Dave Beck and [[Jimmy Hoffa]] to testify. The televised hearings of the special committee also introduced Senators [[Barry Goldwater]] and [[John F. Kennedy]] to the nation, as well as leading to passage of the Landrum-Griffin Labor Act. After each day’s hearings, moreover, Robert Kennedy and other staff members, including [[Pierre Salinger]] and Kenneth O’Donnell, would meet in the committee’s back room to plan strategies for Senator John Kennedy’s upcoming 1960 presidential campaign.

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From 1955 until 1972, [[John L. McClellan]] of [[Arkansas]] chaired the PSI. McClellan continued extensive hearings of the Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and added new inquiries relating to communist activities in the United States and to business activities and alleged improper activities by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower Administration]] appointees and political associates. In the 86th Congress (1957), members of the Subcommittee were joined by Members of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee on a special committee to investigate labor racketeering. Chaired by Senator McClellan and staffed by [[Robert F. Kennedy]], the Subcommittee’s Chief Counsel, and other staff members, this special committee directed much of its attention to criminal influence over the [[Teamsters|International Brotherhood of Teamsters]], most famously calling Teamsters’ leaders Dave Beck and [[Jimmy Hoffa]] to testify. The televised hearings of the special committee also introduced Senators [[Barry Goldwater]] and [[John F. Kennedy]] to the nation, as well as leading to passage of the Landrum-Griffin Labor Act. After each day’s hearings, moreover, Robert Kennedy and other staff members, including [[Pierre Salinger]] and Kenneth O’Donnell, would meet in the committee’s back room to plan strategies for Senator John Kennedy’s upcoming 1960 presidential campaign.

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After the select committee expired in 1960, the PSI continued to investigate labor racketeering and other labor-related matters. From [[1961]] through [[1968]], it also investigated [[gambling]] and [[organized crime]] in which [[Joe Valachi]] testified about the activities of the [[La Cosa Nostra|"Cosa Nostra"]], the [[Billie Sol Estes]] case, irregularities in missile procurement, procurement of the [[General Dynamics F-111|TFX]] fighter plane, excessive risks in underwriting [[Federal Housing Administration]] mortgages, [[riot]]s, and [[civil disorder]]s, the [[United States Agency for International Development|Agency for International Development]] commodity import program, and procurement of railway bridges for [[South Vietnam]] under the [[Counterinsurgency operations|counterinsurgency]] program. The Subcommittee’s investigations also led to passage of major legislation against organized crime, most notably the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations]] (RICO) provision of the Crime Control Act of 1970.

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After the select committee expired in 1960, the PSI continued to investigate labor racketeering and other labor-related matters. From 1961 through 1968, it also investigated [[gambling]] and [[organized crime]] in which [[Joe Valachi]] testified about the activities of the [[La Cosa Nostra|"Cosa Nostra"]], the [[Billie Sol Estes]] case, irregularities in missile procurement, procurement of the [[General Dynamics F-111|TFX]] fighter plane, excessive risks in underwriting [[Federal Housing Administration]] mortgages, [[riot]]s, and [[civil disorder]]s, the [[United States Agency for International Development|Agency for International Development]] commodity import program, and procurement of railway bridges for [[South Vietnam]] under the [[Counterinsurgency operations|counterinsurgency]] program. The Subcommittee’s investigations also led to passage of major legislation against organized crime, most notably the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations]] (RICO) provision of the Crime Control Act of 1970.

In 1973, Senator [[Henry "Scoop" Jackson]], a Democrat from Washington, replaced McClellan as the Subcommittee’s chairman and Senator [[Charles Percy]], an Illinois Republican, became the Ranking Minority Member. During Senator Jackson’s chairmanship, the Subcommittee conducted landmark hearings into [[energy]] shortages and the operation of the [[oil industry]].

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