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Wartime Contracting Commission (Finally) Created
It only took, oh, seven years and up to $6 billion in potentially-criminal contracting fraud, but Congress is finally set to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last night, the Senate unanimously approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill (not the appropriations bill, as I mistakenly wrote earlier this week) drafted by freshman Democratic Senators Jim Webb and Claire McCaskill that creates an eight-member commission studying a plethora of contractor-related issues. Waste, fraud and abuse is only the start. The commission will also look at how the federal government contracts for "security and intelligence functions" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some defense experts believe that the overreliance on contract security is counterproductive to U.S. counterinsurgency efforts.
The commission will deliver a report after the 2008 election -- on January 15, 2009 -- containing "specific recommendations" for improvements to the contracting process. It will seek to determine which functions contracted out are "inherently governmental" -- a key concern for critics of outsourced security and intelligence priorities. While the primary product from the commission will be its report, it has the authority to refer potential criminal charges resulting from its inquiry to the Attorney General for prosecution.
However, the commission no longer has direct subpoena power, which was provided in an earlier version of the amendment, and which had drawn concern from Sen. John Warner (R-VA). In the final version, if the commission has difficulty acquiring information from any federal agency, it's to report that difficulty to Congress, and rely on Congressional subpoena power to resolve any deadlock. However, the bill essentially makes the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) into the commission's staff on the ground in Iraq, and a similar body will do the same in Afghanistan. SIGIR has subpoena power for both federal agencies and contractors. The bill's authors considered the subpoena-power change, made to satisfy some GOP concerns, to be reasonable.
President Bush is likely to sign the defense authorization into law, but concerns have been raised over the inclusion of a hate-crimes amendment, which might attract the president's veto.
Update: This post has been corrected.
Comments (9)
whidbeygrl wrote on September 28, 2007 1:02 PM:Yeah...when the outcries get too loud, appoint a commission, or a czar....
Gee, it has no power to compel testimony, won't report anything until after the elections, and we don't know where the funding will come from, nor who will be on the so-called bipartisan commission. Just what we need, another so called Bi-partisan group impeding progress on fact finding by obdurate nit picking.
Well, just as long as it works as well as the ..say..9/11 , or the Iraq Study Group, or....
Did I mention a timeliness issue?
Sheesh....
Chuckwallah wrote on September 28, 2007 1:22 PM:Harry Truman, peace be upon him, headed up a Congressional committee during and after WW2, if my ancient memory is correct. The Truman Committee or the Truman Commission, and it was productive. But of course as a Missouri Judge he was perhaps better at sniffing out shenannigans than the modern millionairs who currently amuse themselves in Washington now.
guyermo wrote on September 28, 2007 1:48 PM:the Truman Committee became the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, if my memory serves.
It was meant to deal with issues similar to this, and was used by Norm Coleman (Douchebag, MN) to investigate the Oil for Food program.
Way to go, senate! You created a toothless commission to do the job one of your committees already is supposed to do!
JohnW1141 wrote on September 28, 2007 1:57 PM:The Democrats strike another blow for honesty, responsiblility and integrity!.
Not.
You can bet the "no subpoena power" thingy was a condition of the Republicans before they'd join in to make it "bi-partisan."
parrot wrote on September 28, 2007 3:13 PM:Why doesn't the Congress just do its job? Why do they need a "bipartisan" commission without subpoena power? Basically, "bipartisan" means that both factions butts are covered. What Americans really need is a NONPARTISAN commission that doesn't have any players from either party on it and that DOES have subpeona power.
I hope 3rd parties make significant inroads in the current Congressional "culture" of back scratching and double-dealing...
Eric Z. wrote on September 28, 2007 3:45 PM:I'm sure down the line there will be comparisons to the execution of the Blackwater investigation versus the execution of the Whitewater investigation.
JustOneGuy wrote on September 28, 2007 4:21 PM:@Eric Z: something tells me there won't be nearly as much investigation of Blackwater as there was of Whitewater, but I hope I'm wrong. Maybe that investigation will lead to the discovery that Dick Cheney also likes interns. Then we'll see some REAL indignation from the likes of Joe Liberman.
bubba wrote on September 28, 2007 4:23 PM:It really amazes me that this far in most of the public and journalists seem to have the notion that defense contracting is limited to the spheres that Haliburton and Blackwater operate in. Hell, check out the use of contractors as instructors at, say, the Army Intelligence Center. See how many are actually qualified for their positions and what the impact of their continued employment has been (and the schemes used to keep them continually employed!).
Al in Austex wrote on September 30, 2007 7:07 AM:Here's a suggestion to the whiners and or trollers on this thread who see only negative incompetency on the part of the ongoing Oversight Investigations- please take a deep breath , and put this current executive criminal corruption & stonewalling in historical perspective - it took a really good long while to force Nixon to resign .My belief is that if Sam Ervin & Barbara Jordan had been subjects of the twenty four /seven "blogosphere" we might never have gotten rid of Nixon & Co.
Also this opposition to BushCo is entering a new -and some argue more dangerous phase- yes we may very well- vis a vis a false flag operation, wag the dog , & ACTUALLY BOMB the Iranians. Which is why its really really necessary & important to build as much comity as we can with the moderate Republicans -even Coleman - because this whole shebang is very likely headed for a Cheney Impeachment in the House & Trial in the Senate .
Please recall the Veep 's response to Leahey's shouted question to Cheney on the floor of the Senate. Leahey asked about the war profiteering in Iraq by KBR/Halliburton - Cheney very famously yelled back at lEAHEY to go "F**CK HIMSELF "..Cheney & the Contrators have a lot of explaining to do ..
Its often forgotten that Watergate did not do in Nixon-- it was Vietnam . Iraq will be the political destruction of the right wing Republicans (aka Dixiecrats) - the moderates will want to save themselves . The same way Howard Baker sought self preservation so will today's moderates.
Waxman & Leahey et al know whats up they need our encouragement and steadfast support .
Meanwhile maybe the blogosphere can go outside and take a walk on one of these beautiful fall days. Hey even Mehlman/Gillispie Trolls need fresh air sunshine, and physical exercise.