[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25646-25647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
              HEARINGS TO ADDRESS WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE

  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that I might speak at this time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I came to the floor last 
week and read part of an article that appeared on October 23 in the 
article by Knight Ridder reporters about the Pentagon program costing 
taxpayers millions in inflated prices. I came to the floor and I 
reported that there was some reports that we were paying anywhere from 
$20 for a plastic ice tray that should cost about 89 cents. In addition 
to that, we were paying $81 for coffee makers that you can buy at a 
retail store for $29. In addition, I said that we were paying for a 5-
cubic-foot refrigerator $27,000 that should cost about $3,000 or 
$4,000, and these are the kinds of refrigerators that are put on 
aircraft.
  I wanted to report to the House tonight that I am extremely pleased. 
I wrote a letter to the chairman and ranking member, Chairman Duncan 
Hunter and Ranking Member Ike Skelton, and today we held hearings on 
this issue of inflated prices. I want to say that the hearing was 
attended by a fair number of those on the Armed Services Committee.
  The witnesses, the Admiral and the Under Secretary that were there 
present, we were able to ask about these inflated prices. They 
explained this program that is called the Prime Vendor program. We 
talked about how it used to be when there were competitive prices, and 
now we have gone to where there is a middleman that works with the 
prime vendors.
  From that, Mr. Speaker, the reason I wanted to come to the floor 
tonight is because I was so encouraged by the response of the chairman 
and the ranking member that next week we are going to bring the prime 
vendors to the committee to talk about these inflated prices.
  Mr. Speaker, as I said today on the Armed Services Committee, there 
is one thing that the American people, maybe they do not follow us when 
we talk about deficits and debt and some of these other issues that are 
very important to the future of this Nation; but there is one thing 
they know, that if you are paying $20 for a plastic ice cube tray that 
you can buy for 89 cents, they know that is not right. I also said to 
those on the panel today that when you are paying $24,000 or $25,000 
for a 5-cubic-foot refrigerator, the taxpayers know that is not a wise 
investment as well.
  So tonight I want to give credit to the chairman and the ranking 
member of the Armed Services Committee. It was a very informative 
hearing today that will lead to additional hearings next week. And what 
I am hoping will come from this is that the taxpayers

[[Page 25647]]

will know that we do care about abuses and we do care about inflated 
prices.
  We are going to get to the bottom of this, thanks to the leadership 
of Chairman Hunter and Ranking Member Skelton and the committee 
members, both Republican and Democrat. We are going to get to the 
bottom of this and we are going to be able to say to the taxpayers and 
to the reporters for Knight Ridder that wrote this article that we are 
going to see that wrongs are made right and we are going to do exactly 
what is in the best interests of the taxpayers.
  Mr. Speaker, before I close, I know that my friend from Texas and my 
friend from Illinois talked about those who serve in this Nation and 
who have given their lives. As I close this way all over my district, I 
will close this way tonight.
  I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please 
bless their families. I ask God to please hold in his loving arms the 
families who have given a child, dying for freedom.

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