Dan Burton (R-Ind), longtime chair of the House Oversight Committee is retiring, but this story suggests that his legacy will live on. Burton made a name for himself by diligently investigating the Clinton Administration in the 1990s. He seems to have been responsible for the increased visibility of the committee:
Regardless of one’s take on his investigations, Burton’s impact is lasting. He helped transform the somewhat sleepy oversight panel into one of the most feared committees on Capitol Hill, particularly when the chairman hails from the opposing party of the president. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who bristled under Burton’s chairmanship for six years, used his two years with the gavel to pummel the Bush White House’s use of security contractors in Iraq and its ties to failed energy concern Enron.
The story points out how several of his staffers are building up careers of their own, and may well end up back in the House on their own. This one stick out especially:
Perhaps no other Burton staffer summed up the tumult of the committee at that time better than David Bossie, who is now the president of Citizens United, the conservative group that served as lead protagonist in the landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling that opened up a new pathway for hundreds of millions of dollars in special-interest money into elections.
