WASHINGTON — Lawmakers expressed outrage on Tuesday at the punishments imposed on Drug Enforcement Administration agents who were accused of participating in sex parties with prostitutes while stationed in Colombia.

Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a hearing that the panel had begun an investigation into a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general that detailed allegations of sexual misconduct and the misuse of government funds by 10 D.E.A. agents.

Seven of the agents admitted to participating in the sex parties, and those involved received suspensions of two to 10 days.

The report was released last month, but the committee disclosed new information showing that the misconduct had occurred as early as 2001. Mr. Cummings said the report portrayed “a D.E.A. agency as completely out of control.”