[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
  IT'S TIME TO HOLD DEFENSE CONTRACTORS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS

  (Mr. MORAN of Virginia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, there are as many private 
contractors in Iraq as U.S. soldiers on the ground. Outsourcing our 
military should be a cause for concern for all Americans, but the 
recent uncovering of indiscriminate hostility toward Iraqi civilians 
and unprovoked killings by security contractors in Iraq is a siren 
warning that demands immediate attention.
  Blackwater, a company that has reaped over $110 million from the 
taxpayers since 2006 in U.S. contracts, offers one of the most 
egregious examples of what is wrong with our occupation of Iraq.
  Last week, Blackwater security protecting State Department officials 
opened fire in a Baghdad neighborhood, and in what appears to be an 
unprovoked incident, Blackwater guards killed at least 11 innocent 
Iraqi civilians and wounded 12 others. But because of a decree 
delivered in 2004 by our Ambassador Paul Bremer on his last day on the 
job, these contractors are granted immunity from Iraqi law and will 
likely face no charges at home.
  This lack of accountability is anathema to our fundamental principle 
of equal justice under the law and exemplifies why the occupation of 
Iraq has been such a failure.

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