^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

Congress Reviewing Agency Implementation Of The Data Quality Act
On January 13, 2005, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent letters to 15 federal government agencies and commissions seeking detailed information and documents regarding each agency's implementation of the Data Quality Act. The letters requested that the agencies provide the information to the Committee by January 28, 2005. The Chairman's letters stated that Congress had already formally "expressed concern that agencies were not complying fully with the requirements of the DQA..." The letters also explained to the agencies that now "the Committee seeks to assess directly whether the agencies are implementing and following data-quality procedures as Congress intended."

CRE believes that Committee oversight is an effective and essential means of ensuring that federal agencies and commissions consistently comply with the Data Quality Act.