Blue Dog Coalition Deficits and Debt Background

Floor Speech

BLUE DOG COALITION DEFICITS AND DEBT BACKGROUND -- (House of Representatives - May 15, 2007)

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Arkansas, and I thank the gentleman from Arkansas and I appreciate your leadership on this issue.

I don't come to the floor often on Special Orders, but I think today this issue is so critically important not only for the American taxpayers but for the men and women who are serving so bravely in Iraq, and this is such a long overdue issue, as the gentleman mentioned, I helped write this bill but this came about after two Congresses of my own bill, the Iraq War Funding Accountability Act, that in the last Congress, as you know, was a Blue Dog-endorsed measure. That was an attempt to bring about accountability in Iraq in regard to the moneys that are spent by contractors in the reconstruction areas taking place in Iraq.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed under the last Congress or the last majority to bring this measure forward so we could debate it, so we could discuss it, so we could vote on it. But fortunately, with the new leadership in Congress, this has become an issue that has not only been discussed and debated but an issue that is going to be included in the bill that we have before us this week. And it's just so long overdue on the part of the American taxpayers and the men and women who are serving who, because this money is misspent, misdirected, sometimes lost, are going without the equipment that they need.

Every Member in this House has heard from family members and friends about their loved ones serving in Iraq who require supplies purchased by family members and friends and sent to them, everything from boots to protective gear, to the proper sunglasses, to supplies. It's absolutely inappropriate, and as long as we continue to misappropriate money and allow this to fall into the area of waste, fraud and abuse, and in sometimes criminal neglect or criminal negligence, this issue is only going to be exacerbated and the stories are just far too numerous.

We've heard the little stories that, in fact, some of these contractors are selling soda pop at $45 a case to the men and women who are serving in Iraq to the same contractors who are charging $100 to do a 15-pound bag of laundry, to the bigger issue, such as trucks, trucks that are burned in place because there's minor repair problems needed, to even bigger issues such as pallets of money, I think it was $12 billion that just disappeared in Iraq. And we have been trying to get a handle on this for a long time, and every effort that we have made has been short-stopped in this Congress, and finally, we are going to be able to get it out.

Mr. Speaker, I have here a Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Report. This is a report that's issued quarterly to Congress.

It tells us very, very little about what's happening. It will tell us by contractor name how much we are obligated to them. It will tell us by contractor name how much they have expended. It will tell us by contractor name the percentage of increase in these expenditures, but it doesn't tell us how the contract was let, why the contract was necessary, and, if, in fact, the work being done was, in fact, completed.

This report represents a snapshot from 30,000 feet, no attempt at all to drill down and find the answers that the taxpayers and the servicemembers deserve. I have another report here about the construction by a contractor of the Baghdad police academy, obviously built in Baghdad. These pictures are worth 1,000 words. They show the fact that the work was done, shoddy workmanship. They show, in fact, that the supplies that were used by these contractors were inappropriate supplies, faulty, substandard supplies. This isn't pointed out in the quarterly report.

These are the things that we need to know, and I am just proud to be a member of the Blue Dogs who exist for one reason and one reason only, the one common thread that runs through the entire Blue Dog organization, and that's fiscal responsibility. It's fiscally irresponsible to continue to ignore these very real problems. It's fiscally improper to adopt this measure, to insist on accountability by those who are being paid just gross sums of money to do, in some instances, inappropriate, ineffective, substandard work.

I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding, and I appreciate your leadership in helping get this measure signed into law and bringing accountability to these outrageous incidents that are taking place in Iraq today.

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