[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 25652-25653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMISSION ON WARTIME CONTRACTING

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to deliver tonight some brief 
remarks about a matter that a group of freshmen Democrats in this body 
have worked on together, and that is a bipartisan commission on wartime 
contracting and to expand the authority of the existing oversight 
mechanisms to help make sure our taxpayer dollars are spent properly 
and wisely in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  I, like the Presiding Officer from the State of Ohio, joined Senators 
Webb and McCaskill and 23 other Members in cosponsoring this amendment 
and encourage the full Senate to approve it when it comes to a vote 
tomorrow. As a former auditor general in Pennsylvania, I know firsthand 
the need to aggressively root out waste in government. But it is 
especially egregious to discover waste and abuse and the loss of 
taxpayer dollars when our troops are in harm's way.
  I also know that the oversight required to monitor potential abuse is 
a full-time job. That is why this amendment takes the extraordinary 
step of creating a new commission, evenly divided between the political 
parties, to investigate contractor abuses in a thorough manner. Some 
have argued we should leave this task to our existing committees in the 
Senate. I and my cosponsors, respectfully disagree with that 
assessment. As the distinguished Senator from Michigan said earlier 
today on the floor, our existing committees in the Senate, if they have 
this responsibility, would grind to a halt if any of those committees 
had to undertake a full investigation of contractor abuses in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. The commission we propose is deliberately patterned after 
the Truman Commission--named, of course, after a former President, but 
at the time the Truman Commission was named for his work in the Senate.
  The Truman Commission consisted of a group of patriotic Americans 
that was charged with the mission of studying all financial and 
military transactions related to the execution of our war effort during 
World War II. This Commission recognized that it was not only American 
military might that would win the war in the struggle against the axis 
powers, but that every dollar saved, every dollar and every resource 
rescued would materially contribute to the war effort and enable the 
American Nation to focus its power and its energy on our common enemy 
at that time.
  The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are very different from World War 
II, we know that, but the same principles apply when it comes to 
rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. Every day we read the horror 
stories about the lack of body armor for our troops. We see that the 
military has failed to order enough mine resistant ambush protective--
so-called MRAP--vehicles to secure all of our troops. We hear our 
military stock is in need of urgent replenishment. The United States is 
a wealthy nation, we know that, but we are not a nation of infinite 
riches and resources. We have to prioritize our spending and make hard 
choices. That is why it is so important to crack down on contractor 
abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan. We cannot afford to let companies doing 
business there profit--profit--from fraud and abuse at the same time we 
need those very dollars for real priorities--our men and women in 
uniform.
  In 2005, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction 
reported that $9 billion spent on Iraq's reconstruction was missing--
unaccounted for--due to inefficiencies and bad management. When I say 
missing, I literally mean the special inspector general's office was 
unable to find out what happened to this money. Only last week, the 
Pentagon disclosed that it is auditing $88 billion in contracts and 
programs for financial irregularities. Let me repeat that number--$88 
billion. This is not a case of a few inappropriate cost overruns in 
contracts or sloppy bookkeeping in other contracts. Here we know that 
40 individuals--40 individuals--and private companies have already been 
suspended, debarred, or are proposed for debarment. Another 30 
investigations await prosecution at the Department of Justice.
  Contractor abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan is a national scandal. It is 
an embarrassment. I think it also represents a taking. Every dollar 
wasted there is a dollar taken away from our troops and our ability to 
fight the enemy. Most of us supporting this amendment today were 
elected last year on the promise to change the culture in Washington 
and to no longer take for granted this type of crass corruption. We 
shouldn't accept it. We should root it out and do everything possible 
to make it almost impossible to commit this kind of crime.
  This legislation establishes an independent commission to 
comprehensively vet Federal agency contracting for reconstruction, 
logistical support of coalition forces, and security and intelligence 
functions in Iraq and Afghanistan. What we are talking about is an

[[Page 25653]]

independent and bipartisan commission to provide real credibility and 
real authority in cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse.
  This amendment also provides significant new powers to the already 
existing Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to expand 
his important work and coordinate with this new commission. I had the 
chance earlier this month to meet with Stuart Bowen, who is that 
inspector general and in that position. We discussed this amendment, 
and he agreed it was a good proposal, one that deserved to be 
implemented to enhance the ability to uncover and prosecute gross 
abuses of the public trust.
  No matter where one stands on the war in Iraq, I would hope we could 
agree on the need to eliminate all waste and fraud and prosecute those 
who facilitate such fraud and such waste. These actions bring dishonor 
to our Nation and, in a word, are unpatriotic. We should do everything 
we can to root out such abuses, and this amendment is an important 
first step to do that.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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