[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 157 (Monday, November 3, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13803-S13804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Durbin, and Mrs. 
        Clinton):
  S. 1813. A bill to prohibit profiteering and fraud relating to 
military action, relief, and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I am introducing with Senators 
Feinstein, Durbin, and Clinton the ``War Profiteering Prevention Act of 
2003.'' This bill creates criminal penalties for war profiteers and 
cheats who would

[[Page S13804]]

exploit the relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq to make an extra 
buck. Sadly, these very same provisions are missing from the final 
version of the $87 billion spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan 
because House conferees refused to accept the amendment, offering no 
substitute and no willingness to compromise. Republican and Democratic 
Senate conferees consistently supported the provision, which had been 
unanimously accepted during Senate Appropriations Committee markup of 
the bill.
  There are, of course, fraud statutes to protect against waste of tax 
dollars at home. But none expressly prohibit war profiteering and none 
expressly confer extraterritorial jurisdiction overseas. Technical 
jurisdictional elements in existing laws also make their applicability 
in these unique circumstances more difficult. The Leahy-Feinstein-
Durbin-Clinton bill would criminalize ``war profiteering''--
overcharging taxpayers for any good or service with the specific intent 
to excessively profit from the war or reconstruction efforts in Iraq. 
The bill also prohibits fraud and false statements in any matter 
involving a contract or the provision of goods or services in Iraq. 
These new crimes would be felonies, subject to criminal penalties of up 
to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million or twice the 
illegal gross profits of the crime. These are strong and focused 
sanctions that are narrowly tailored to criminalize and create tough 
criminal penalties for fraud or excessive profiteering in contracts, 
here and abroad, related to the war or reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
  Congress is about to send billions and billions of dollars to a place 
where there is no functioning government, under a plan with too little 
accountability and too few financial controls. That's a formula for 
mischief. We need strong disincentives for those who would defraud 
taxpayers. It baffles me why House members would not want to provide 
this protection to taxpayers. Every penny of our taxpayers' money must 
be scrupulously spent and protected from waste. The message sent by 
this bill speaks volumes; any act taken to financially exploit the 
crisis situation in Iraq for exorbitant personal gain is simply 
reprehensible. It demeans and cheapens the sacrifices that our military 
and civilian personnel are making in Iraq.
  In post-war times, where U.S. taxpayers have been called upon to bear 
the burden of reconstruction contracts--where contracts are awarded in 
a system that offers little competition and even less accountability--
concerns about wartime profiteering are of grave concern. Historical 
efforts to stem such profiteering have been successful: Congress 
implemented excessive-profits taxes and contract renegotiation laws 
after both World Wars, and again after the Korean War. Advocating 
exactly such an approach, President Roosevelt once declared it our duty 
to ensure that ``a few do not gain from the sacrifices of the many.'' 
Then, as now, our government cannot in good faith ask its people to 
sacrifice for reconstruction efforts that allow so many others to 
unfairly profit.
  There is urgency to this important measure because criminal statutes 
cannot be applied retroactively. These controls need to be in place 
now. We can only hope that the Senate will continue to press and 
support its prompt passage through Congress.
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