Washington, D.C. – Today, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) and Ranking Member Rob Wittman (R-Va.) convened a hearing to examine recent efforts to strengthen interagency coordination on U.S. contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

“I can see the agencies have made some progress on managing and coordinating contingency contracting and contractor personnel,” said Chairman Snyder. “I am especially pleased that they’ve been able to come to agreement in the last few days on a new Memorandum of Understanding that will address grants and cooperative agreements, and that the agencies will not require submission of detailed personal information for most Iraqi and Afghan employees working under U.S. grants and cooperative agreements. I hope that as the agencies move forward they will follow the recommendations of the GAO to establish a formal plan with milestones for implementing the new MOU, so that we can better judge their progress in this important area.” 

 

“Today we heard that DOD, State, and USAID are making progress in reporting contractor data in a comprehensive manner that addresses NGO concerns,” said Ranking Member Wittman. “The most important issue is that we are focusing on achieving our national strategic and operational objectives in a coordinated manner, and today’s hearing on the effective implementation of the database is a step in the right direction to achieving those goals.” 

 

Witnesses at today’s hearing included Mr. Gary Motsek, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Program Support; Mr. William Moser, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Logistics Management; Ambassador James Michel, Counselor to the Agency at the United States Agency for International Development; and Mr. John Hutton, Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

 

The witnesses testified on the progress made by the Department of Defense, Department of State, and United States Agency for International Development in the past year, several obstacles and challenges encountered by the agencies and their partners, and the agencies’ plans for the future. 

           

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