Al Franken's tirades about Norm Coleman's tenure as Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chairman can be summed up in one word: dishonest.
As chairman, Coleman focused the subcommittee like a laser beam on three major problems: fixing weaknesses in America's homeland security; rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in government; and bolstering consumer protection for vulnerable Americans citizens.
In each of these areas, Norm Coleman has a distinguished record of success.
On homeland security, he identified weaknesses in the system and proactively worked to fix them. Improving border security, pushing for more regulation of radioactive materials and focusing on better detection methods of cargo coming into our country were key outcomes of his investigations.
This past summer, The Hill newspaper said that Norm deserved "a nod of gratitude" for his role in an investigation into the ease at which people were able to get their hands on radioactive materials used in making dirty bombs.
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His investigations into abuses by government agencies have been similarly successful, exposing roughly $14 billion in government waste.
His groundbreaking investigation into the credit counseling industry revealed practices swindlers were using with not-for-profit charities to prey on thousands of Americans who were drowning in debt.
Coleman led an investigation into companies that exploit low-income Americans through predatory tax-refund loans which led to reforms in that industry.
More recently, Norm Coleman has joined with current Democrat Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin to investigate certain practices in the credit card industry that appear to prey on Americans struggling with credit card debt.
Franken says Norm Coleman should have used PSI to conduct oversight of the Iraq War and Iraq reconstruction. Franken neglects to mention that other committees were holding hearings on the Iraq War and no fewer than 12 independent agencies were conducting oversight -- to have PSI conduct duplicate investigations would have simply cost taxpayers more money while not likely yielding new findings.
As a point of reference, current chairman and former ranking member, Carl Levin, never called for, nor initiated any such hearings through PSI.
Norm Coleman and Carl Levin have worked together to make PSI one of the most bipartisan investigative committees in Congress. Together, they've done aggressive oversight that's benefited Minnesotans, and the country.
In the end, Al Franken would rather fight political battles and engage in partisan showmanship and Norm Coleman would rather get things done.
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Cullen Sheehan
Campaign Manager
Coleman for Senate '08
St. Paul
