The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) is the oldest subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and accounting measures other than appropriations, the Census, the federal civil service, the affairs of the District of Columbia, and the United States Postal Service. ...

Recent investigations

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. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that describes itself as a global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. ... The Oil-for-Food Programme was established by the United Nations in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine and the like. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The United Nations Secretary-General is the head of the Secretariat, one of the principal divisions of the United Nations. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

History

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was 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

The PSI is sometimes thought of as the successor to the U.S. 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. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is currently chaired by Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), with Carl Levin (D-MI) as a ranking member. ... Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-fourth Vice President (1945) and the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953), succeeding to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... Look up Tax return in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For tax returns in the United States see Tax return (United States); for tax returns in Canada see Tax return (Canada). ... The Grumman F-11 Tiger was a one-seat, carrier based, United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. ... Boeing 314 A flying boat is an aircraft that is designed to take off and land on water, in particular a type of seaplane which uses its fuselage as a floating hull (instead of pontoons mounted below the fuselage). ...

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 export control violations, for which Soviet spy William Remington was called in to testify; the trial of Nazi war criminal Ilse Koch; and the Mississippi 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 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. Homer Samuel Ferguson (February 25, 1889 – December 17, 1982) was a U.S. Senator from Michigan. ... Clyde Roark Hoey (11 December 1877 __ 12 May 1954) was the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1937 to 1941. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 28th 139,509 km² 805 km 240 km 9. ... The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of manufactured goods, nonagricultural commodities, and services. ... William Remington with Soviet Spy Elizabeth Bentley William Walter Remington (October 25, 1917 - November 24, 1954) was a U.S. economist and civil servant whom the Venona transcripts confirm was a spy for Soviet Union[1]; he was later convicted on perjury charges. ... The term National Socialism has been used in self-description by a number of different political groups and ideologies, some of which have no connection with the Nazis; see National socialism (disambiguation). ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Ilse Koch, née Kohler (September 22, 1906 - September 1, 1967), was the wife of Karl Koch, the commandant of the concentration camp Buchenwald. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 32nd 125,546 km² 275 km 545 km 3 30°13N to 35°N 88°7W to 91°41W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 31st 2,697,243 23. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ...

Joseph McCarthy

In the 83rd Congress, under its new chairman, Joseph 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 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 U.S. Information Service libraries around the world. The Eighty-third United States Congress was in session from 1953 to 1955. ... Joseph Raymond McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was a Republican Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 23rd 169,790 km² 420 km 500 km 17 42°30N to 47°3N 86°49W to 92°54W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 18th 5,453,896 38. ... Espionage is the practice of obtaining secrets (spying) from rivals or enemies for military, political, or economic advantage. ... Subversion is an overturning or uprooting. ... The Fifth Amendment may refer to the: Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution - part of the Bill of Rights. ... The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department, a treasury, of the United States government established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. ... The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. ... The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime (but not direct) precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. ... The U.S. Army Signal Corps was founded in 1861 by Major Albert J. Myer, a physician by training. ... The General Electric Company, or GE (NYSE: GE) is a multinational technology and services company. ... Herbert Aptheker Herbert Aptheker (July 31, 1915 - March 17, 2003) was an internationally known U.S. Marxist historian and political activist. ... Earl Russell Browder (May 20, 1891–June 27, 1973) was an American socialist and leader of the Communist Party USA. // Early years Browder was born in Wichita, Kansas. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ...

The hearings also investigated such matters as communist infiltration of the United Nations; Korean War atrocities; and the transfer to the Soviet Union of occupation currency plates. Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... In warfare, infiltration tactics involve small, lightly-equipped infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front-line strongpoints, isolating them for attack by follow-on friendly troops with heavier weapons. ... The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that describes itself as a global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. ... The Korean War, from June 25, 1950 to cease-fire on July 27, 1953 (the war has not ended officially), was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ... A counterfeit is an imitation that is made with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins. ...

In April 1954, McCarthy`s exchange of charges with Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens led to the appointment of a special subcommittee of the PSI to investigate the charges. Chaired by Karl Mundt of South Dakota, the proceedings became known as the Army-McCarthy Hearings. Flag of the United States Secretary of the Army The United States Secretary of the Army has statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications, and financial management. ... Robert Ten Broeck Stevens (1899 - 1983) was a U.S. businessman. ... Karl Earl Mundt (1900 - 1974) was a U.S. educator and a Republican United States Senator from South Dakota from 1948 to 1973. ... Official language(s) English Capital Pierre Largest city Sioux Falls Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 17th 199,905 km² 340 km 610 km 1. ... Early in 1954, the U.S. Army accused Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (Republican, Wisconsin), and his chief counsel, Roy Cohn, of pressuring the Army to give favorable treatment to former McCarthy aide and friend of Cohns, G. David Schine. ...

Labor racketeering

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 Eisenhower Administration appointees and political associates. In the 86th Congress|86th Congress (1957), members of the Subcommittee were joined by Members of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare 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 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. John Little McClellan (25 February 1896 – 28 November 1977) was a member of the US Senate|United States Senate and United States House of Representatives from Arkansas. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 29th 137 732 km² 385 km 420 km 2. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American soldier and politician. ... Senators George David Aiken (R-VT) Gordon Llewellyn Allott (R-CO) Clinton Presba Anderson (D-NM) Edward Lewis Bartlett (D-AK) James Glenn Beall (R-MD) Wallace Foster Bennett (R-UT) Alan Harvey Bible (D-NV) Henry Styles Bridges (R-NH) Styles Bridges (R-NH) Clarence Norman Brunsdale (R-ND... The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) has jurisdiction over matters relating to health, education, labor, and pensions. ... For the New Zealand cricketer, see Robert Kennedy (cricketer). ... Teamsters logo. ... Dave Beck (June 16, 1894-December 26, 1993) was an American labor leader, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1952 to 1957. ... James Riddle Jimmy Hoffa (born 14 February 1913, disappeared 30 July 1975) was a noted American labor leader who is also well-known in popular culture for the mysterious circumstances surrounding his still-unexplained disappearance and presumed death. ... Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 1, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was a United States politician and a founding figure in the modern conservative movement in the USA as well as being a major inspiration for many of his youthful followers to join the libertarian movement. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Pierre Salinger. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ...

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 "Cosa Nostra", the Billie Sol Estes case, irregularities in missile procurement, procurement of the TFX fighter plane, excessive risks in underwriting Federal Housing Administration mortgages, riots, and civil disorders, the Agency for International Development commodity import program, and procurement of railway bridges for South Vietnam under the 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. Gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ... Joseph Valachi Joseph Joe Cargo Valachi (September 22, 1903 - April 3, 1971) was the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into mafia. ... Billie Sol Estes (b. ... A U.S. Air Force F-111 The General Dynamics F-111 was a long-range strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and tactical strike aircraft. ... The Federal Housing Administration was begun as part of the New Deal in 1934. ... Riots occur when crowds of people have gathered and are committing crimes or acts of violence usually due to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. ... Civil disorder is a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe one or more forms of disturbance caused by a group of people. ... USAID logo The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the US government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. ... Official language Vietnamese Capital Saigon Last President Duong Van Minh Last Prime Minister Vu Van Mau Area  - Total  - % water 173,809 km² N/A Population  - Total  - Density 19,370,000 (1973 est. ... The U.S. Army term counterinsurgency operations arose in fall 2004 to describe ongoing operations in Iraq and related operations as far back as the Vietnam War. ... RICO or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is a United States law which provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. ...

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. Henry M. Jacksons home Everett, Washington Henry Martin Scoop Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was a U.S. Congressman and Senator for Washington State from 1941 until his death. ... Charles H. Percy (born September 27, 1919) was chairman of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964 and Republican United States Senator for Illinois from 1967 to 1985. ... The Oil industry brings to market what is currently considered the lifeblood of nearly all other industry, if not industrialized civilization itself. ...

Nunn-Roth era

The regular reversals of political fortunes in the Senate of the 1980s and 1990s saw Senator Sam Nunn trade chairmanship three times with Delaware Republican William Roth. Nunn served from 1979 to 1980 and again from 1987 to 1995, while Roth served from 1981 to 1986, and again from 1995 to 1996. Senator Roth led a wide range of investigations into commodity investment fraud, off-shore banking schemes, money laundering, and child pornography. Senator Nunn inquired into federal drug policy, the global spread of chemical and biological weapons, abuses in federal student aid programs, computer security, airline safety, and health care fraud. Sam Nunn Samuel Augustus Nunn (born September 8, 1938) is co-chairman and chief executive officer of the NTI (Nuclear Threat Initiative), a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. ... William Victor Roth, Jr. ... Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. ... Generally, child pornography (sometimes referred to as CP, child porn, KP, or kiddie porn) is an illegal form of pornography, featuring children. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... Computer security is a field of computer science concerned with the control of risks related to computer use. ... // Institutions Certification In most countries, civil aircraft have to be certified by the civil aviation authority (CAA) to be allowed to fly. ... Health care or healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions [1]. The healthcare industry is one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing industries, consuming over...

In January 1997 Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, became the first woman to chair the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Her Chairmanship was also notable in that she held the Senate seat of former Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith, an opponent of Senator McCarthy. Senator John Glenn of Ohio became Ranking Member. Upon Senator Glenn’s retirement from the Senate, Senator Carl Levin became Ranking Member in 1999. In June 2001, when the Democrats resumed control of the Senate, Senator Levin assumed the chairmanship of the Subcommittee until January 2003 when Senator Norm Coleman assumed the Chairmanship. Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952 in Caribou, Maine) is the junior U.S. Senator from Maine and a Republican. ... Official language(s) None Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 39th 86,542 km² 305 km 515 km 13. ... Margaret Chase Smith (December 14, 1897–May 29, 1995) was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. ... This article is about the astronaut. ... Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan. ...

Members

Republicans

• Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota), chair
• Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
• Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma)
• Lincoln D. Chafee (R-Rhode Island)
• Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah)
• Pete V. Domenici (R-New Mexico)
• John W. Warner (R-Virginia)

Norman Bertram Norm Coleman Jr. ... Theodore Fulton Ted Stevens (born November 18, 1923) is an American politician from Alaska. ... Thomas Allen Coburn, M.D. (March 14, 1948) is a medical doctor and U.S. Senator from the state of Oklahoma. ... Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee (born March 26, 1953) is a United States Senator from Rhode Island. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Peter Vichi Domenici (born May 7, 1932) has served as a Republican U.S. Senator from New Mexico continuously since 1973. ... John William Warner (born February 18, 1927) is an American statesman and politician, who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972-1974 and has served as a Republican Senator from Virginia since 1978. ...

Democrats

• Carl Levin (D-Michigan), ranking member
• Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii)
• Thomas R. Carper (D-Delaware)
• Mark Dayton (D-Minnesota)
• Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey)
• Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas)

Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan. ... Ranking member, in American politics, is a term used to refer to the member of a committee in Congress who is the longest-serving member of the party not in the majority (the longest-serving member of the majority is the chairman). ... Daniel Kahikina Akaka (born September 11, 1924) is a U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. ... Thomas Richard Tom Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. ... Mark B. Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is a Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party US Senator from Minnesota who took office in 2001. ... Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (born January 23, 1924) is an American politician. ... Mark Lunsford Pryor (born January 10, 1963) is a politician in Arkansas. ...

External links

• Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Official site
• Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Government Operations, Eighty-third Congress, First Session (1953): Volume 1 [PDF 950 pages], Volume 2 [PDF 900 pages], Volume 3 [PDF 927 pages], Volume 4 [PDF 920 pages], Volume 5 [PDF 619 pages]
• Transcript of an interview with Ruth Young Watt, via Senate.gov