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WASHINGTON, DC—Reiterating his call for increased accountability in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, included language in the Defense Appropriations Act (HR 3222) for Fiscal Year 2008 to require regular reports to Congress detailing troop deployment numbers and actual and estimated costs of military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This language was included in the Defense Appropriations Act (HR 3222) for Fiscal Year 2008, which passed the House of Representatives this past weekend.
“With numerous reports of waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is absolutely imperative for the Department of Defense to get a handle on its management of our war costs,” said Congressman Boyd. “The language that I included in the Defense Appropriations bill is about accountability, responsibility, and Congress exercising its Constructional duty of oversight, and it is my hope that it will result in more accurate war accounting by the Defense Department.”
The need for more factual and timely information about our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan was further highlighted last week following a report issued by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) describing continued mismanagement of contracts and waste of taxpayer dollars in Iraq.
“Like others before it, the recent report issued by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction described flagrant abuses of taxpayer dollars in the funding of the war in Iraq,” said Congressman Boyd. “Our brave troops on the ground, our military families at home, and the American people deserve to know that the money we are sending to Iraq and Afghanistan is being spent in the most effective and efficient way. The Defense Appropriations bill is a real step toward accomplishing this goal.”
The Defense Appropriations Act now awaits consideration in the Senate.
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