Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the National Defense Authorization 2009.

This bipartisan bill authorizes $531 billion for the DoD and national defense programs of the Department of Energy and reflects Congress' commitment to supporting our troops and their families while protecting the national interests of the United States and improving the oversight and accountability of funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I believe passage of this bill will be welcome news to our service members and their families. To help our troops readjust to civilian life and to help military families deal with the economic pressures here at home as a spouse serves overseas, the bill provides a 3.9 percent pay raise for all servicemembers and extends the President's authority to offer bonuses and other incentive pay. The bill provides tuition assistance to help military spouses establish their own careers, authorizes funds to assist area schools with large enrollments of children from military families, and reverses the rise in health care costs by prohibiting fee increases in TRICARE and the TRICARE pharmacy program.

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where oversight of war contracting has been a priority, I am encouraged by language in the bill to increase transparency and accountability of federal contracts. The Defense Department has made over 180,000 payments to contractors from offices in Iraq, Kuwait, and Egypt. These payments are for everything from bottled water to assault rifles. But due to poor DoD accountability and oversight, billions of dollars of taxpayer money are unaccounted for or have simply gone missing.

Today, the DoD Deputy Inspector General told the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that, after reviewing approximately $8.2 billion in Defense spending in Iraq, they estimate that the Department failed to properly account for $7.8 billion. Additionally, the IG reported that the Defense Department has paid $135 million to Britain, South Korea, Poland, and other countries to conduct their own operations in Iraq. The DoD Inspector General tried to find out what this money was used for, but could find no answers.

The bill addresses the lack of accountability in war contracting in two ways. First, by requiring a separate budget request for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it will be easier for Congress and American people to follow more closely how U.S. tax dollars are being spent. Second, with the passage of the Waxman amendment to the bill, anti-fraud measures will be enhanced and transparency in contracting Increased by limiting the use of abuse-prone contracts and by rebuilding the federal acquisition workforce.

I am also supporting this bill for the assistance it provides the many thousands of federal employees who work for the DoD and who are fearful of administration efforts to use the OMB A-76 Circular to compete out their jobs. I am pleased that I was able to help ensure that the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision that prohibits the Pentagon from undertaking, preparing for, continuing, or completing public-private competitions of federal jobs as directed by the Office of Management and Budget. The provision also overturns the mandatory requirement that the jobs of federal employees be re-competed every 5 years.

The Department of Defense has yet to issue guidance to the Department to implement past congressional A-76 recommendations nor has it listened to the recommendations of military commanders who have warned that these A-76 competitions are harming the Pentagon's mission. So, the National Defense Authorization Act again urges the Pentagon to immediately implement guidelines recommended by Congress.

Like most bills, this one contains provisions that I would not have included. However, on balance it is a good bill that strengthens our national security.

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