More on Illegals, and the vote, and possibly other things: `Reinventing Government` - "Citizenship USA."
Government Editorial Opinion (Published)
Source: Wall Street Journal
Published: 8/11/00 Author: Review & Outlook
Well, we've finally found something Al Gore is anxious to claim he didn't invent. And it has to do with whether his National Performance Review office -- better known as the "reinventing government" initiative -- hijacked an Immigration and Naturalization Service new citizenship program as part of a scheme to churn out a million new voters just in time for the 1996 election.
The INS program was called "Citizenship USA." Announced in August 1995, it was ostensibly aimed at reducing the growing mound of naturalization applications. But when members of Al Gore's "reinventing government" operation interjected themselves in the program and the number of applications processed began to accelerate, some INS personnel complained that the citizenship process had been compromised. That it occurred during an election year only fed suspicions.
The record laid out in the report makes it clear that, denials notwithstanding, the Gore operation understood that registering hundreds of thousands of new citizens by September 30, 1996 was, the report said,"a goal that could have electoral benefits." Indeed, it reported that "many INS employees questioned the legitimacy of [Citizenship USA] because they suspected it grew out of partisan purposes."
That is hardly news. The defining characteristic of this administration has been its habit of politicizing anything it lays its hands on. In this environment, if you set up a department for reinventing government it will inevitably migrate toward political purposes.
The inspector general found no evidence that the INS planned or implemented the program on a political basis. But he also explains this was not for Team Gore's lack of trying. Political pressure from Gore deputies was "one stimulus" driving the effort, according to the report. One NPR official, Douglas Farbrother, said Mr. Clinton himself instigated the action. Mr. Farbrother told investigators that a senior Gore aide, Elaine Kamarck, told him that "the president was interested in naturalization because he thought this group would mostly vote for him." Mr. Farbrother said she also told him that Mr. Clinton had then asked Mr. Gore to have the NPR "take a look" at the INS program.
When asked by investigators, Ms. Kamarck denied making these statements. The Gore team's involvement, she said, stemmed from, in the report's words, a "good government" desire to reduce the naturalization backlog. Ms. Kamarck is an authentic New Democrat who in any case would only be following orders here. In the event she did not return repeated phone calls yesterday.
Still, Mr. Farbrother tells an interesting story, as related in the inspector general's investigation, which was the largest ever. Mr. Farbrother told investigators that he "believed the program had a deadline that was directly related to the upcoming election." When Citizen Farbrother made his views known to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick in March 1996, she threw him out of her office.
Ms. Kamarck also met with Clinton aide Harold Ickes and others about the program and complained in an e-mail and a memo about the slow pace, according to the report. In an e-mail sent to Mr. Farbrother, Ms. Kamarck wrote that the "President is sick of this and wants action." And in a memo to the vice president, she noted that "only by working seven days a week and longer hours can we hope to make a significant enough dent in the backlog that it will show up when it matters."
Mr. Gore refused to be interviewed by investigators. In a written response to questions, he said he didn't know what Ms. Kamarck meant by the phrase "when it matters" and denied that the citizenship drive was linked to the 1996 election.
Whatever the reason, the inspector general makes clear that the citizenship process was severely compromised at the very moment the Gore team was involved. The report is scathing on this point, noting, for example that 180,000 immigrants were pushed through without background checks and that the INS continued to accelerate the program despite complaints from the field that the process had been tainted. From Commerce to Justice, America's highest institutions have over these last eight years been treated merely as vehicles for partisan advancement. Why should we think the sacred process of American citizenship would be any different? |
