Kaptur Offers Truman Committee Amendment

KAPTUR OFFERS TRUMAN COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

Mar 16, 2006

Would have Established a House Commission to Examine How Taxpayer Dollars are Being Spent in the Rebuilding of Iraq and the Gulf Coast

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), introduced the Truman Committee amendment to the War and Hurricane Supplemental Appropriations bill (H.R. 4939) this afternoon. This amendment would have created a select committee -- based on the Truman Committee that existed from 1941 to 1948 during World War II -- to investigate possible waste, fraud, and abuse in government contracts in Iraq and in the Katrina recovery and reconstruction. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership would not allow a vote on the amendment, ruling that it was not germane to the debate.

"This amendment would have allowed Congress to oversee exactly how the billions in taxpayer dollars are being spent in Iraq and in the Gulf Coast," said Kaptur. "Though the Republican leadership did not allow a vote on this amendment, it remains critical that Congress curtail the opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse in federal contracting."

The Truman Committee or the Select Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program held 432 public hearings and 300 executive sessions, conducted hundreds of fact-finding missions, issued 51 reports and saved the taxpayers billions of dollars.

"The need for a modern-day Truman Commission could not be clearer. This amendment is a responsible, good government amendment. It provided a means for oversight that is thorough not anecdotal. This is a failure by Congress to exercise its most basic responsibility - the power of the purse."

http://www.kaptur.house.gov/PressRelease.aspx?NewsID=1488