Last night, the U.S. Senate adopted an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill to establish
a commission to investigate waste, fraud and abuse of contractors working in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Below is a copy of a letter we sent earlier this week to Senators to help make the case. Thought this might be of interest. This is a critical first step in reining in the abuses involving private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let's hope it survives the process.
September 26, 2007
Dear Senator:
We write to strongly urge your support for an amendment to the FY2008
Defense Appropriations bill sponsored by Senators James Webb (VA) and Claire
McCaskill (MO). The amendment establishes critical oversight for contracts
awarded for work on Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Recent high profile media reports regarding wartime contractors have
uncovered disturbing information regarding waste, fraud, and abuse of public
funds.
- A
senior military official is quoted in the Washington Post today calling
the recent incident involving the private security contractor Blackwater
“a nightmare” and went on to say that “this is going to hurt us
badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're
trying to have an impact for the long term.”
- The U.S. Government Accountability Office
reported last December that the military is losing millions of dollars
because it can not monitor private contractors in remote locations.
- Earlier this year, the Defense Audit
Contract Agency raised its estimate of fraud and abuse in Iraqi
reconstruction projects from $3.5 billion to more than $10 billion.
The mounting evidence of extensive waste, fraud, and abuse of federal
dollars awarded to private contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan must
be fully investigated and those responsible held accountable. The current mechanisms for oversight are
woefully inadequate. Our troops and the
American people deserve better.
The Webb-McCaskill amendment is an essential, common-sense answer to the
growing number of reports of misconduct by private contractors involved in
these missions. The amendment creates a bi-partisan commission modeled
after the highly successful Truman Commission that investigated waste, fraud
and abuse during World War II.
The amendment would establish an eight member bipartisan panel to:
(1)
review
contracts for reconstruction efforts and logistical support for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan;
(2)
review
contracts involving security and intelligence functions in Iraq and Afghanistan;
(3)
strengthen the
role of the Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction; and
(4)
assign the
Special Inspector General, working in coordination with the Commission, the
responsibility to perform audits of contracts awarded for work in Operation
Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
U.S. PIRG applauds the leadership of Senators Webb and McCaskill in
offering this critical amendment. This
simple step is essential to any meaningful accountability among federal
contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan. We encourage you to call for a vote on the
amendment and to vote for it when it comes to the Senate floor.
Sincerely,
Gary
KalmanDemocracy Advocate