Senator John Kerry, Congressman Barney Frank, Congressman John Tierney and Congressman Bill Delahunt today called for Dale Jones, Director of Law Enforcement for the division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which oversees fishing, to step down from his position.
This follows the revelation by Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser, that Jones had shredded documents while under investigation by the IG for conducting overly aggressive, unfair, and poorly-managed law enforcement operations.
“Massachusetts fishermen see their economic well-being in large measure decided by NOAA’s rules and they won’t swallow them if an official is destroying documents,” said Senator John Kerry. “Transparency and accountability matter. Mr. Jones should step down for the good of NOAA’s reputation and its credibility with the working people its rules affect. I strongly urge Mr. Jones to do the right thing and step down from his duties as Director of Law Enforcement.”
“After reviewing the Inspector General’s report I was already convinced that the question of Mr. Jones’ tenure needed to be thoroughly discussed,” said Congressman Barney Frank. “This later revelation now makes it clear that he should leave. Fair fishing law enforcement is essential and people in the fishing industry cannot be expected to have confidence in the law enforcement process supervised by someone who has behaved in this way.”
“I have repeatedly questioned Mr. Jones’ leadership capabilities and have yet to hear a sufficient reason why he should not resign,” said Congressman John Tierney. “In view of the evidence of longstanding, uncorrected deficiencies at the Office of Law Enforcement, together with yesterday’s revelations about the shredding of documents, Dr. Lubchenco should remove Mr. Jones from authority – at the very least, pending the final IG report. We need a whole reorganization from Mr. Jones down. Our fishing families do not deserve to be treated like common criminals as they have been on Mr. Jones’ watch.”
“Shredding documents is conduct that simply cannot be tolerated,” said Delahunt. “It is important that the enforcement actions maintain the highest standards and command the respect of our fishermen.”
The investigation by the Inspector General was initiated by a letter the late Senator Kennedy, Kerry, Frank, Tierney, and Delahunt addressed to NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco on May 1st of last year. The report was released on January 21st, but it did not include the allegation that Director Jones had shredded documents. That fact was revealed by the Inspector General this week.
Representatives Frank, Tierney, and Delahunt, along with Senator Kerry, have persistently pushed for more equitable regulations for the fishing industry, as well as for less overly-aggressive enforcement of existing regulations. Tierney and Frank testified before two Congressional committees this week, arguing strongly for reconsideration of NOAA’s approach toward oversight of the fishing industry.
Read the letter to Lubchenco from the Senator and Congressmen requesting an investigation.