Private Security Contractors in Iraq

M. Speaker. I rise today in support of this rule and the underlying bill, which helps to address one of the most disturbing and pressing issues to come before the Congress this year... the lack of oversight and accountability of contractors abroad and here at home.

And it's vital that we are passing the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act today to address at least one of these critical issues.

Currently, there are estimated to be at least 180,000 contractors working in Iraq under contracts awarded by the Department of Defense, the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other federal agencies.

Yet, under current law, only contractors working for the Department of Defense can be held responsible for crimes they commit while working in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere throughout the world. At present, the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act - MEJA - leaves felonies committed by contractors working for other federal departments unpunished.

This is unfair and unacceptable, and this Congress must act to ensure that justice is not a selective American principle.

Our current law has given private, mercenary armies like Blackwater USA free reign to do as they please without fearing the repercussions.

And as we have seen, that unbridled freedom from any accountability has resulted in sometimes egregious criminal behavior.

But under the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act, federal contractors working for every department and agency will be held responsible for all criminal acts.

It will also direct the FBI to establish units to investigate crimes committed by contract personnel operating abroad.

M. Speaker. It simply makes no sense to hold contractors to a different standard than American citizens living at home or even the brave soldiers who risk their lives everyday in Iraq.

It is a travesty of justice that we allow private armies to evade punishment for serious crimes, especially considering we have prosecuted our soldiers for very similar actions.

In a recent incident that has received significant scrutiny, Blackwater guards were involved in a September 16 shootout in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead and a number wounded.

This event spurred such a tremendous public outcry that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to apologize to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

And we have learned from reports compiled by Blackwater themselves that since 2005 its employees have been involved in at least 195 incidents in Iraq that involved the firing of shots by Blackwater guards.

Blackwater's contract with the State Department stipulates that Blackwater may only engage in defensive use of force. However, in the vast majority - over 80 percent - of these shooting incidents, Blackwater's own reports reveal that its guards fired the first shots.

In one incident that has recently come to our attention, Blackwater guards shot a civilian bystander in the head. In another, State Department officials report that Blackwater sought to cover up a shooting that killed a seemingly-innocent bystander.

Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, and despite numerous instances where the military has found "probable cause" that a crime has been committed and has referred the case to the Justice Department, there has been only one successful prosecution of a civilian contractor for wrongdoing.

Without fear of reprisal, these reckless contractors also operate with no regard for the private property of innocent Iraqi citizens. In a November 2005 incident, a Blackwater motorcade collided with 18 different vehicles.

Written statements from the team members were determined to be invalid, and a Blackwater contractor on the mission stated his tactical commander "openly admitted giving clear direction to the primary driver to conduct these acts of random negligence for no apparent reason."

And M. Speaker, we have seen the number of contractors increase exponentially as the Bush Administration has placed an unnecessary strain on our Armed Forces through the war in Iraq.

In 2001, Blackwater had less than one million dollars in federal contracts. By 2006, that figure had grown to over half a billion dollars, an increase of more than 80,000 percent.

Today, there are approximately 180,000 federal contractors in Iraq alone, a number greater than the American military presence.

Because of the President's policy of escalation in Iraq, we have become more reliant on these contractors to protect American interests there.

For every Blackwater mercenary the United States government hires to protect embassy officials, Blackwater charges $1,222 per day, which over six times more than the cost of an equivalent American soldier.

M. Speaker. The lack of oversight of federal contractors committing crimes overseas is an example of how the system of federal contracting is broken.

Earlier this year, this Congress got off to a strong start by passing H.R. 1362, the Accountability in Contracting Act, which helped restore integrity to the contracting process.

I am also proud to be the sponsor of H.R. 2198, the Contractor Accountability Act, which will require the head of every agency and department to ensure that every federal contract recipient is fulfilling their obligations after they are awarded that contract. It requires every federal agency and department awarding contracts to submit a report on the status of those contracts to Congress.

This is the type of oversight and accountability that is necessary to ensure that the problems that are happening in Iraq with federal contractors and at home can finally be put to an end.

And today, with the passage of the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act, we will address another critical loophole in our contracting crisis, by ensuring that those contractors who commit crimes are held accountable for their actions.

What we seek to do today is simple... The MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act will hold federal contractors operating overseas to the same standards we hold ourselves and to which we hold our brave troops.

And let's be clear. This bill does not prevent contractors from using force if the situation calls for it. Our bill simply allows contractors to be punished for committing acts of murder and other felonies. Nobody should be immune from the law, and this legislation will ensure that no one, even if he is a private contractor in Iraq, is.

I reserve the balance of my time.