I dont think you understand the role of Congressional oversight. It is not simply to determine if laws were broken.
And despite Tony' Snow's insistence to the contrary:
"There’s another principle, which is Congress doesn’t have the legislative — I mean oversight authority over the White House." [CNN, 3/22/07]
"First, the White House is under no compulsion to do anything. The legislative branch doesn’t have oversight." [MSNBC, 3/22/07]
"Congress doesn’t have any legitimate oversight and responsibilities to the White House." [Fox, 3/22/07]
Congress does have a responsibility to monitor the Executive Branch, to ensure that the goverment is acting as effectively as possible and in the best interest of the people. not only legally, but without over-politicizing the implementation of the law to the detriment of the people.
The State Dept. describes it this way in a document for foreign countries about how our government works:
Quote:
Congressional oversight prevents waste and fraud; protects civil liberties and individual rights (like the rights of the the US Attorneys from being defamed by claiming poor performance records) ; ensures executive compliance with the law (including possbily exerting undue influence on criminal investigations by firing the US attorneys); gathers information for making laws and educating the public; and evaluates executive performance. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions, and the presidency.
...
Time and again, the oversight power of Congress has proven to be an essential check in monitoring the presidency and controlling public policy.
http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/outusgov/over.htm
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