[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 90 (Friday, June 25, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 24, 2004

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I want to explain why I voted against the 
Rapid Acquisition Authority for Combat Emergencies Bill (H.R. 4323), 
when it was added to the suspension calendar for a vote earlier this 
week.
  During the past year, we have seen repeated examples of waste, fraud, 
and abuse in contracts awarded by the U.S. Defense Department to the 
Halliburton Corporation and other military contractors that have poorly 
served our troops and the American taxpayers. Not only do I lack 
confidence that such procurement sloth has stopped, those of us in 
Congress who have called for in-depth congressional investigations have 
been stone-walled.
  In light of this dismal track record, Congress should not open the 
door even wider and provide even greater authority for the Pentagon to 
award lucrative contracts to contractors without competition and with 
even less scrutiny and congressional oversight. Nevertheless, H.R. 4323 
would waive existing safeguards against war profiteering and other 
contract abuses.
  Congress is already moving to authorize and appropriate up to $1.2 
billion to provide additional equipment for our troops in every 
instance where critical shortages have been identified. That is one of 
the important reasons why I voted in favor of the FY 2005 Defense 
Authorization Bill, when the House passed it last month.
  Finally, the supporters of this bill claim it is needed to cut 
through existing, cumbersome Pentagon acquisition regulations to 
respond to urgent needs of our troops in combat emergencies. But there 
is mounting evidence to the contrary. I believe the equipment shortages 
among some of our troops in Iraq during the past year resulted from 
poor pre-war planning and serious miscalculations in the Pentagon by 
the architects of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Quite simply, U.S. Army war 
planners didn't issue enough purchase orders, before the invasion of 
Iraq was launched, to ensure that all of our troops on the ground in 
Iraq had what they needed during the conventional combat phase of this 
conflict. Those mistakes and the equipment shortages they caused became 
even more costly since President Bush announced the end of combat in 
Iraq on May 1, 2003, and the nature of the military threat changed and 
the armed insurgency expanded. This Congress should act to address 
those mistakes, not use them as an opportunity to hand out more no-bid 
contracts.
  I believe H.R. 4323 could actually make a bad situation worse.

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