Hearing of the Senate Financial and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee - Fraud and Abuse in Army Recruiting Contracts
Hearing
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHNSON
Senator Johnson. Thank you, Madam Chair, and let me apologize for having to leave at about 10:25. I also want to thank you for holding this hearing and your pursuit of this particular issue in terms of oversight. I think it is definitely an important issue. I want to thank the witnesses who have taken time to meet with me in my office and also provide me some of the information, because this can be pretty detailed and pretty complex, exactly what happened here.
From my standpoint, I think you did a pretty good job laying out the issues, laying out what the problem was. I basically have three questions. Did the National Guard have the legal authority to do what it did? I think that is still certainly a question in my mind. It sounded like they sought legal counsel. I think the question is whether there was undue pressure put to get basically those legal opinions to allow them to do this. I think that is a question we have to certainly ask.
Has there been accountability and will there be accountability? Will there be accountability to those individuals that basically took the authority to institute this program, which obviously went awry? And then, do we have proper corrective action so this does not happen in the future? To me, those are the three big questions.
I think I am heartened by the fact, and I think you would probably agree with this, that the Army did, once they became aware of it, immediately suspend the program. I think the investigation that is going on now is serious. I think that there are criminal charges being filed and pursued, and I think that has to be the case.
So, from my standpoint, the program has been ended. I think this is very appropriate in terms of oversight. I think the fact that you have pushed this oversight hearing is certainly helping move this process along.
And, again, I just want to thank you. I wish I could stay longer, because this is an important issue.
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