As of last Thursday evening, Congress appears to be taking the need for wartime
contracting reform seriously. The latest House conference report for the 2008 National Defense
Authorization Act (report 110-477 for HR 1585) now includes the Webb-McCaskill amendment) (Title VIII, subtitle D of the Act),
which establishes an 8-member investigative commission to study contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan
In a press release issued on Friday, Senators Webb and McCaskill
stated:
"I am pleased that Senator
McCaskill, our freshman colleagues and I were able to move this legislation so
quickly. We've been able to create a commission that has teeth in it to bring
accountability back into our wartime contracting system," said Senator Webb.
"The waste, abuse and lack of oversight associated with some of these federal
agency contracts are hitting the pocket-book of every American. Those of us in
Congress have an obligation to the American taxpayer to be proper stewards of
their tax dollars."
"We can do better, we must do better with war
contracting," Senator McCaskill said. "This commission will make a difference.
It will be bipartisan, it will be substantive, and it will be meaningful, and
at the end of two years, we will have a very clear blueprint on how we move
forward with contracting at the Department of Defense and within our military
and the State Department. As Harry Truman said during World War II, 'the men
and women in the foxhole should never have to worry that people are profiting
inappropriately off their sacrifice.'"
Their press release also includes an outline of the
measures and a link to the audio of Friday's press conference.
The
independent, bi-partisan commission would be the most substantial investigation
of wartime contracting since the Truman Commission looked at spending during
World War II. POGO has previously blogged on the Webb-McCaskill legislation and also
sent a
letter of support in September.
-- John Pruett
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