[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1110-E1111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 25, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1815) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2006 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2006, and for 
     other purposes:

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Chairman, under the current Administration, waste, 
fraud, and abuse in federal contracts have proliferated. No-bid 
contracts have soared. Oversight of federal contracts has often been 
turned over to private companies with blatant conflicts of interest. 
Billions of dollars have been squandered on contracts that enrich 
private companies but provide little or no benefit to the taxpayer.
  Yesterday, at the Rules Committee, I offered an amendment to the 
Defense Authorization Bill to help restore integrity to the federal 
contracting process. The amendment would have prohibited contractor 
conflicts of interest and stop the use of abusive ``monopoly 
contracts.'' It would have also ensured greater transparency and 
accountability. I am deeply disappointed that the Rules Committee 
refused to make the amendment in order and allow an open debate on this 
important issue on the House floor.
  This Administration now relies on oversight contractors with 
conflicts of interest. In March 2004, the Defense Department awarded 
seven contracts to help oversee the implementation of a larger number 
of Iraqi reconstruction contracts. One of the oversight contractors, 
CH2M Hill, has ongoing domestic contractual relationships with three of 
the four firms it oversees: Washington Group International, Fluor, and 
AMEC.
  My amendment would have ensured that oversight contractors are truly 
independent, without any business or contractual relationships with the 
companies whose contracts they are helping to assess.

[[Page E1111]]

  My amendment would have prohibited the abusive practice of monopoly 
contracts, requiring the Administration to use contract vehicles that 
allow multiple contractors to compete for individual projects. That way 
we could have some competition between the companies at the project 
level--and competition is the best way to control costs.
  Finally Mr. Chairman, my amendment would have required the Department 
to submit to appropriate congressional committees a list of all audits 
that find more than $1 million in contractor overcharges, and to 
provide full copies of specific audits requested by the chairmen and 
ranking members of those committees. In this way, the amendment would 
have enhanced the ability of Congress to discover contractor abuses and 
promoting greater transparency.
  Unfortunately, the current Administration has tried to hide 
contractor overcharges from Congress, international auditors, and the 
public, impeding oversight and diminishing accountability.
  For example, for months the Defense Department refused to provide 
copies of audits completed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency 
relating to Halliburton's oilfield reconstruction work in Iraq. Slowly, 
we gained access to these reports through unofficial channels. The 
first report showed overcharges of more than $100 million. We now have 
six of these audits, and the overcharges exceed $212 million. To this 
day, we have still not received the remaining audits under this 
contract.
  By refusing to allow a debate on the common sense changes proposed by 
my amendment, the Republican leadership in Congress is trying to bury 
these serious problems as well.
  I will vote for this bill. I support our troops and this bill will 
enhance the safety of our men and women in uniform and improve their 
quality of life. But I am deeply concerned that Congress is not doing 
nearly enough to stop wasteful and unethical contracting practices.

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