Thank you for that generous introduction, Rob (Storch), and
congratulations on your relatively recent appointment as Inspector General at
the National Security Agency. Almost
thirty years ago, Rob and I worked together in the Department of Justice’s
Public Integrity Section. Even as a relatively young lawyer, Rob impressed everyone
with his expertise and insight.
I also want to thank Office of Management and Budget Deputy
Director Margaret Weichert, for her service as Executive Chair of the Council;
Inspector General Michael Horowitz, for chairing the Council and for his ongoing
work at the Department of Justice; National Science Foundation Inspector
General Allison Lerner, the Council Vice-Chair, who worked with me in Maryland
to combat grant fraud; and Wendy Laguarda, Inspector General for the Farm
Credit Association, for co-chairing this ceremony.
It is an honor to join America’s Inspectors General, along
with the supervisors, auditors, investigators, attorneys, and staff who help to
promote integrity in government.
Most of all, I want to congratulate the award winners for your
remarkable accomplishments.
All executive branch employees take the same oath of office.
Most people are familiar with the first clause of our oath, the requirement to
“support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies.”
But some overlook the final clause: to “well and faithfully discharge the
duties of the office on which I am about to enter.”
The first obligation is generic. It imposes a duty to pursue
the national interest over any private interest. That applies equally to all
government employees.
But the final clause is specific. Everybody recites the same
words, but the meaning varies. In order to well and faithfully discharge the
duties of “the” office, you need to understand its unique responsibilities.
What is the mandate of your agency; what is the mission of your component; and
how do you add value?
You need to know what you stand for.
In the Inspector General community, your mission is to
combat waste, fraud, and abuse in agency programs and operations.
A decade ago, a sports psychologist named Graham Jones
published an article called “How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better.”
It considers how human beings manage to keep improving and setting new records.
The secret, it seems, is to ignore limits. Never assume that you are restricted
by what has been accomplished before.
As a young prosecutor, I learned how to find fraud. Just
look for opportunities, situations where there is a nexus of discretion and
profit. When there is such an opportunity, eventually a greedy and unprincipled
person will take advantage of it.
But I encourage you to keep the Jones article in mind. Never
accept the proposition that fraud and corruption are unavoidable. Root them out
when you find them, and then support constructive changes to eliminate future
opportunities. The true measure of success in law enforcement is not how many
crimes we prosecute. It is how many crimes we prevent.
Operating government agencies with integrity builds public
confidence in the rule of law, which is critical to democracy.
Your first task is to conduct your own affairs with
integrity. Inspectors General exercise considerable autonomy. Autonomy in
government is a form of power, and you carry a special responsibility to
exercise that power wisely.
In the courtyard of the Department of Justice headquarters,
there is a Latin inscription that reads, “Privilegium Obligatio.” It means that
when you accept a privilege, you incur an obligation.
The point is made more precisely in a remark attributed to
French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
If that quotation sounds familiar, it was also said by
another well-known philosopher — Spider-Man’s Uncle, Ben Parker.
You hold a position of trust, and public respect for
government depends in large part on whether or not you live up to that trust.
Former Attorney General Edward Levi remarked that “it is by
watching [law enforcement] that many of our citizens learn what kind of country
this is…. The law must act with a sense of fundamental equality.… People must
believe, if not in the wisdom of a particular law, at least in the fairness and
honesty of the enforcement process… Nothing can more weaken the quality of life
… than our failure to make clear by words and deeds that our law is not an
instrument of partisan purpose.”
It is appropriate for policy decisions to take into account
political priorities. That is what elections are for. But enforcement must
remain nonpartisan.
As a prosecutor, and as a United States Attorney, I worked
on many cases with Inspectors General, including quite a few in the audience
today, and a couple of the award recipients. Our work led to criminal
convictions of many perpetrators who defrauded the government, and also to
civil recoveries of many hundreds of millions of dollars.
In my current job, I rely on the Inspector General to
identify areas of potential improvement in our Department’s operations.
I hope you also work closely with your agency leaders to
help them achieve efficiencies and avoid pitfalls. Cases occasionally arise
that put you at odds with agency heads, but your mission should coincide with
their goals — to achieve the agency’s priorities and serve the American people
honestly, fairly, and efficiently.
In the Department of Justice, we manage 115,000 employees,
tens of thousands of contractors, and thousands of grant recipients. Even if
most of them play by the rules – and I know they do – there will always be
outliers.
In 2017, our Inspector General’s Office completed more than
300 investigations that led to the arrest of 116 people. The office also helped
to recover millions of dollars for taxpayers, and made more than 450
recommendations about ways to help the Department operate more efficiently.
Preventing inappropriate disclosures of confidential
information is one of the important issues I focused on during the past year.
Disclosing non-public, sensitive information you learn as a
government employee may jeopardize an investigation or case; prejudice a
defendant’s rights; or unfairly damage a person’s reputation. It also can
violate federal laws, employee non-disclosure agreements, and individual
privacy rights. In some cases, it may put a witness or law enforcement officer
in danger.
Inspectors General appropriately encourage whistleblowers to
come forward, but it is important to make clear that there are lawful ways to
report wrongdoing, either to agency supervisors or to internal watchdogs,
without making improper disclosures.
Those leaks undermine public confidence and harm innocent
people. At the Department of Justice, we revised our operations manual to
emphasize the duty of confidentiality. Transparency is often appropriate in
government, but I encourage you to work with your agencies to help them follow
the rules and honor confidentiality obligations when required by law.
Finally, I urge you to work closely with the appropriate
United States Attorney or Main Justice component when you find evidence of
criminal wrongdoing that may warrant prosecution.
A few months ago, in response to an Executive Order from
President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions established a Task Force
on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud.
One of our goals is to provide guidance for investigating and prosecuting
cases involving fraud against the government, including procurement and grant
fraud.
Two weeks ago, Task Force Director Matthew Baughman met with
more than 50 participants from the Inspector General community. The Task Force
will help us coordinate our efforts and more effectively deter fraud and hold
wrongdoers accountable.
Let me conclude with a personal reflection. When I first
took the oath of office as a prosecutor in 1990, I planned to spend just a few
years in government. The mission attracted me, but the people who carry out the
mission are what I treasure most about my job.
It is an honor to work with men and women like you, helping to fight
crime and keep America safe.
In challenging moments, I draw inspiration from a speech
delivered by Attorney General Robert Jackson in 1940. He said that
“sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps the best protection
against the abuse of power, and the citizen's safety lies in the prosecutor who
tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves
the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches [the] task with
humility.”
If you follow that advice, you will remain faithful to your
oath. So seek the truth, serve law, and always stay humble and kind.
I am grateful for your service, and I am honored to work
with you in the cause of justice.
Thank you very much.
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