Nine Amendments for More Savings, Security, and Accountability in the Defense Budget

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Just yesterday, POGO sent a letter to the House of Representatives calling for support of nine amendments to the House's National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal year 2013 that would lead to more savings, security, and accountability. These amendments reflect many of the recommendations POGO made in its updated Spending Less, Spending Smarter report. 

In a nutshell, these amendments would:

• Prevent U.S. taxpayer-financed human trafficking
• Bring the amount that defense contractors can bill taxpayers for their employees' compensation down to a more reasonable level 
• Reduce funding for a billion-dollar nuclear boondoggle
• Defer development of a super high-tech bomber for which there is no urgent need
• Stop the rollback of oversight of nuclear weapons laboratories
• Replace the most expensive variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with affordable jets that we already have
• Shed light on the true cost of service contractors
• Close a contracting loophole that allows contractors to NOT disclose costs that went into certain goods and services
• Trim the fat in the Pentagon's bloated bureaucracy

Good stuff, right?

We'll be taking a closer look at each amendment on the blog throughout the week. In the meantime—big ups to the following Reps. for their hard work and support on these amendments:

• Leonard Boswell (D-IA) 
• Mike Coffman (R-CO) 
• Gerry Connolly (D-VA)
• John Conyers (D-MI) 
• Keith Ellison (D-MN) 
• Hank Johnson (D-GA)
• James Lankford (R-OK) 
• Ed Markey (D-MA)
• George Miller (D-CA)
• Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
• Jackie Speier (D-CA) 
• Paul Tonko (D-NY) 
• Peter Visclosky (D-IN) 
• Peter Welch (D-VT)

Get the full rundown on the amendments and their sponsors here, and stay tuned for more.

Bryan Rahija is POGO's blog editor.

Comments

[Marvin]

Good list of amendments. Hey, rather than only shedding light on service contractors' "true costs." why not look at the true cost of government manpower or FFRDC manpower? That is far, far easier and has never been done with any realism, including by POGO. Be sure to look at productivity when you do this. You should be supporting that kind of amendment, as it will produce more savings and more work.