The Blue Dog Coalition applauded Chairman Skelton for including key provisions of H.Res.97 in the Defense Authorization bill.  H.Res.97 was previously introduced by Blue Dog members and calls for transparency in how Iraq war funds are spent.  Specifically, the Defense Authorization bill addresses the lack of oversight and accountability in the war by requiring that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report every six months on the handling of contracts in Iraq.  In addition, Blue Dog members applauded the inclusion of measures in the Defense Authorization bill which establish essential management goals for the Department of Defense and expand the authority of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to include all reconstruction funding regardless of source or fiscal year.

“By including these Blue Dog-sponsored provisions in the Defense Authorization bill, Chairman Skelton has demonstrated a firm commitment to restoring fiscal accountability and responsibility to the government’s funding of the war in Iraq,” said Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications.  “I encourage all members of Congress to embrace this goal and vote for passage of the Defense Authorization bill this week.”

This action taken by Chairman Skelton and members of the Blue Dog Coalition comes on the heels of a damaging report issued by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction detailing continued and egregious abuses in the government’s funding of the war in Iraq.  Inadequate facilities and non-functioning equipment built by highly paid contractors, insufficient monitoring of government contracts, and billions of dollars unaccounted for due to inefficiencies and bad management are just a few of the examples of waste, fraud and abuse detailed in the report.

The conservative Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1995 with the goal of representing the center of the House of Representatives and appealing to the mainstream values of the American public.  The Blue Dogs are dedicated to a core set of beliefs that transcend partisan politics, including a deep commitment to the financial stability and national security of the United States. Currently there are 43 members of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Ross has been a member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition since he was first elected to represent Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District in Congress in 2000.  He currently serves as Co-Chair for Communications and is one of four elected leaders of the Coalition.

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