House Dem proposes new oversight rules for wartime contracts

Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) on Tuesday proposed legislation aimed at increasing oversight and accountability of wartime contracting in a bid to end what he and many others have said is waste and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last decade.

"We have lost more than 1,900 honorable men and women and spent over $470 billion [in Afghanistan]," Tierney said. "Unfortunately, the national security subcommittee has repeatedly found evidence of waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in wartime contracting, including in the subcommittee's ongoing investigation of the food distribution contract in Afghanistan."

Tierney is the ranking member of the Oversight subcommittee on foreign operations.

The Democrat's Oversight and Accountability in Wartime Contracting Act would limit non-competitive bidding for wartime contracting by ensuring that sole-source contracts last only one year. It would also require agency leaders to approve any sole-source contract valued at more than $100 million, and they would have to justify these contracts to Congress each year.

The bill also would require contractors to agree to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts for some civil actions and require federal agencies to file evaluations of how these contractors perform.

Among other things, it would increase civilian review of contracting by creating new oversight offices at the State and Defense departments, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Tierney said his bill is intended to address flaws in wartime contracting that the Commission on Wartime Contracting has pointed out.

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