Sen Lieberman's response to my e-mail

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding the misconduct of U.S. Secret Service (USSS) personnel in Cartagena, Colombia.  As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), I appreciate your comments and welcome the opportunity to respond to you on this issue.

 

As you may know, I chaired a hearing on May 23, 2012, titled “Secret Service on the Line:  Restoring Trust and Confidence” to raise questions about the level and potential culture of misconduct among Secret Service personnel.   Given the importance of the Secret Service's mission, Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME) and I asked the top officials responsible for looking into the Cartagena incident, USSS Director Mark Sullivan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Inspector General (IG) Charles Edwards, to testify before the Committee.  While both officials assured HSGAC Members that this incident is being examined thoroughly, going forward I do not believe we can afford to watch an agency with a mission as important as the Secret Service's be compromised.  That is why I am committed to finding out not only what happened in Colombia, but why it happened. You can review that hearing at http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/secret-service-on-the-line-restoring-trust-and-confidence.

 

The agents and officers within the Secret Service must be held to the highest standards.  Displays of misconduct akin to the Cartagena episode potentially jeopardize the President's immediate safety or could create long-term, exploitable gaps in his security.  For that reason, a culture which turns a blind eye to this kind of behavior is simply unacceptable.  I believe it is particularly important that supervisors in charge of agents lead by example and maintain the highest code of conduct and continue to demonstrate the selfless and highly skilled traditions we have come to expect of the agency. 

 

Thank you again for sharing your views and concerns with me.  I hope you will continue to visit http://lieberman.senate.gov, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs website at http://hsgac.senate.gov, for updated news about my work on behalf of Connecticut and the nation.

Please contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work in Congress.

 

Sincerely,

Joseph I. Lieberman

UNITED STATES SENATOR