Cost of three wars to be calculated under House-passed defense bill

The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill that passed the House last week includes an amendment from Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) that requires the Defense Department to calculate and publish the costs of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

The amendment was one of several included in an en bloc amendment package last week, and was praised by Lewis as a victory for taxpayers, regardless of their position on the wars.

"Even if you do not oppose war, don't you want to know what it costs you, your children, your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren?" Lewis said on the House floor on Friday. "For too long, there has been a big, fat blank check for war. We need to be honest with ourselves."

The amendment was modeled after Lewis's Cost of War Act, which requires DOD to work with the IRS and others to tabulate the costs of the wars, and post those costs on a public website.

According to the amendment, the figure must include current costs as well as "relevant legacy costs."

The House also approved a separate amendment to the bill from Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) that would require the administration to submit a report to Congress that estimates the long-term costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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