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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida), a member of the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, today voted in support of the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (HR 1585), authorizing $503.8 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the national security programs of the Department of Energy and $141.8 billion to support ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also included in the legislation are key provisions of the Blue Dog bill, H.Res.97, to address the lack of oversight and accountability in how Iraq war funds are spent.
“I strongly support providing the equipment and the resources our troops need to complete their mission, but we cannot afford to exempt funding for the Iraq war from responsible scrutiny,” said Congressman Boyd. “It is not acceptable for billions of dollars to vanish or for thousands of weapons to disappear without anyone asking a single tough question. The Defense Authorization bill will bring much-needed accountability to our costs in Iraq, so we can know where the money is going and that it is being spent in the most effective and efficient way.”
Specifically, the Defense Authorization bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress every six months on the handling of contracts in Iraq. In addition, this legislation establishes essential management goals for DOD and expands the authority of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to include all reconstruction funding regardless of the source or fiscal year.
Over the past several years, media and government reports have detailed examples of the abuse of taxpayer dollars in the government’s funding of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction has indicated that nearly $9 billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management. Additionally, the GAO has reported that between February 2003 and February 2006 there were $2.1 billion in questioned costs and $1.4 billion in unsupported costs on Iraq contracts.
“As a member of the Defense Subcommittee, I have heard firsthand from DOD officials, contractors, and watchdog groups of cost overruns, incomplete projects, and flagrant waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. This must be put to a stop,” Boyd stated. “Accountability should not be optional. Americans deserve to know where their tax dollars are going, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are no exception.”
In addition to strict fiscal accountability measures, the Defense Authorization bill gives troops a pay raise, strengthens benefits for the troops and their families, as promised in the GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century, and takes vital steps forward in improving military healthcare.
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