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WASHINGTON, DC (June 25, 2009) – New accountability measures for private security contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan passed the House today and will be law when the National Defense Authorization Act is signed by the President. Currently, 15,000 contractors are active in these two combat zones absent of the transparency and oversight necessary for accountability. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, has included two provisions in the FY 2010 National Defense Authorization Act that will address the current accountability void.
“We have an obligation to hold security contractors accountable for their actions and make it clear that when those actions reflect negatively on the United States there will be consequences,” said Rep. Schakowsky.
Rep. Schakowsky’s first provision would unlock the contractor performance database for all Members of Congress. The contractor performance database collects information about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings that result in a conviction or a finding of fault against companies holding U.S. government contracts. The aim of this legislation is to allow all members of Congress to access the information necessary to make informed decisions about legislation that regulates contractors. Currently, Congressional access to the database is limited to the Chairman and Ranking Members of congressional committees with jurisdiction over contracting.
“Members of Congress making important decisions about security contracting need all the facts. The database is a tremendous resource that until now has been off-limits to policy makers,” said Rep. Schakowsky. “Billions of dollars have been handed over to private contractors, some of whom have engaged in fraud, misconduct and criminal activity. We owe it to the taxpayers to learn about it and stop it.”
The second amendment Rep. Schakowsky authored requires annual reporting on individuals responsible for awarding and overseeing contracts, including an annual report of how many dollars each contracting officer is responsible for and a report on how many contracting officers are themselves contract employees. The aim of this provision is to ensure that we are able to track the contract oversight workforce, and to shed light on the growing practice of contracting out contract oversight.
While recent years have seen an unprecedented growth in contracting, the Pentagon workforce responsible for awarding and overseeing contracts has shrunk. The Department of Defense has increasingly made up for this deficit by hiring contractors to support these functions.
The Government Accountability Office has done case-by-case studies of contract oversight; including a 2008 study finding that 42 percent of contract specialists at the Army Contracting Center of Excellence were themselves contract employees.
“These two amendments will increase transparency of the defense contracting process. They will help policymakers make better decisions and will serve as notice to private security contractors that the days of free-reign are over,” concluded Rep. Schakowsky.
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