Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
10/04/2007
Pelosi: New Direction Congress is Determined to Hold Private Security Contractors Accountable
Washington, D.C.— Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the
following statement today after the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2740, a
bill sponsored by Congressman David Price of North Carolina to require
accountability for private contractors such as Blackwater that the Bush
Administration has retained to perform military functions in Iraq and
elsewhere:
“For too long, the Bush Administration has looked the other
way as Blackwater, Halliburton and other politically-connected contractors have
received billions of dollars in no-bid contracts and operated under little or
no scrutiny in
“The New Direction Congress is determined to hold private
security contractors—and their supporters in the Bush
Administration—accountable. This vital
legislation provides greater oversight, extends the rule of law, and requires
investigations of potentially unlawful use of force.
“We must uphold American values of justice and
accountability.”