Wartime Contracting Commission (Finally) Created

[babylonsister]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004324.php

Wartime Contracting Commission (Finally) Created
By Spencer Ackerman - September 28, 2007, 11:59AM

It only took, oh, seven years and up to $6 billion in potentially-criminal contracting fraud, but Congress is finally set to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last night, the Senate unanimously approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill (not the appropriations bill, as I mistakenly wrote earlier this week) drafted by freshman Democratic Senators Jim Webb and Claire McCaskill that creates an eight-member commission studying a plethora of contractor-related issues. Waste, fraud and abuse is only the start. The commission will also look at how the federal government contracts for "security and intelligence functions" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some defense experts believe that the overreliance on contract security is counterproductive to U.S. counterinsurgency efforts.

The commission will deliver a report after the 2008 election -- on January 15, 2009 -- containing "specific recommendations" for improvements to the contracting process. It will seek to determine which functions contracted out are "inherently governmental" -- a key concern for critics of outsourced security and intelligence priorities. While the primary product from the commission will be its report, it has the authority to refer potential criminal charges resulting from its inquiry to the Attorney General for prosecution.

However, the commission no longer has subpoena power, which was provided in an earlier version of the amendment, and which had drawn concern from Sen. John Warner (R-VA). In the final version, if the commission has difficulty acquiring information from any federal agency, it's to report that difficulty to Congress, and rely on Congressional subpoena power to resolve any deadlock. The bill doesn't contain language specifying what should happen if the commission can't get information from a contractor, however, making it difficult to know what recourse the commission has in the event that it needs information from a recalcitrant company.

President Bush is likely to sign the defense authorization into law, but concerns have been raised over the inclusion of a hate-crimes amendment, which might attract the president's veto.

[pscot]

1. The Commission sounds like a paper tiger

I'm sure Webb and McCaskill mean well, but without subpoena power this isn't likely to accomplish much. Especially since the membership is equally divided between the parties. So far the Republicans haven't shown any willingness to look into administration malfeasance. Why should we think they're willing to start now. Delay, denial and obstruction is more their style.