TANNER: HOUSE BOOSTS MILITARY READINESS,
DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IRAQ SPENDING

WASHINGTON – Congressman John Tanner praised the House of Representatives for passing a Department of Defense Authorization bill that:

• authorizes funds for the military’s ongoing operations, including those in Afghanistan and Iraq;

• improves military and National Guard readiness, equipment supply and troops training;

• and demands accountability and transparency from civilian Pentagon leaders and contractors on how they have spent taxpayer money in Iraq.

Congressman Tanner speaks on Capitol Hill about the need for accountability from civilian Pentagon leadership. With Tanner are, from left, Reps. Mike Ross (D-AR) and Jane Harman (D-CA), House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), and Reps. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and Heath Shuler (D-NC).

The accountability provisions in the bill were originally written by the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, of which Tanner is a founding member. Tanner also spent four years in the U.S. Navy and 26 years in the Tennessee National Guard, from which he retired as a Colonel. During that time, he said, he learned the first priority is to take care of the troops.

“Our dead and wounded soldiers deserve competent civilian leadership commensurate with their sacrifice, and we don’t think they’re getting it,” Tanner said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill press conference. “The lack of accountability by this civilian leadership that has been running this war is an absolute outrage not only to the military – active and reserve – but also to the American taxpayers. I hope this is the first step toward demanding accountability commensurate with the sacrifice our military is making.”

The Blue Dog-sponsored provisions in the Defense authorization bill will require that the Government Accountability Office report every six months on the handling of civilian contracts in Iraq.

“American taxpayers are spending about $250,000 a minute in Iraq,” Tanner said. “We have to make sure that money is going to our troops and not being spent improperly or unwisely.”

Reports from the Government Accountability Office and the Pentagon’s Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction have detailed billions of dollars of taxpayer waste in the U.S. government’s funding of the war in Iraq. For example, the Department of Defense was unable to locate about 170,000 guns it had issued to Iraqi troops, disposed of billions of dollars’ worth of equipment that was in new, unused or excellent condition, according to GAO reports.

According to one Pentagon audit, Halliburton paid $45 for cases of soda, $100 per bag for laundry service, and for several months prepared at least 10,000 extra, uneaten meals each day for a U.S. military base in Iraq. The Pentagon said it is unable to determine how many civilian contractors it is paying to do work in Iraq.

The fiscal year 2008 Defense Authorization bill also authorizes funding to replace equipment depleted by combat in Iraq, battle gear for the National Guard and reserves, higher military pay raises. It also calls for an increase of 36,000 Army personnel, 9,000 Marines and 1,300 Guard members.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714