Mar 16, 2006- Kaptur Offers Truman Committee Amendment

"This amendment would have allowed Congress to oversee exactlyhow the billions in taxpayer dollars are being spent in Iraq and in the GulfCoast,"said Kaptur. "Though the Republican leadership did not allow a vote onthis amendment, it remains critical that Congress curtail the opportunities forwaste, fraud, and abuse in federal contracting."

The TrumanCommittee or the Select Committee to Investigate the National Defense Programheld 432 public hearings and 300 executive sessions, conducted hundreds offact-finding missions, issued 51 reports and saved the taxpayers billions ofdollars.

"The need for a modern-day TrumanCommission could not be clearer. This amendment is a responsible, goodgovernment amendment. It provides a means for oversight that is thoroughnot anecdotal. This is a failure by Congress to exercise its most basicresponsibility - the power of the purse."

According to the Inspector General,$8.8 billion of Iraqfunds intended for reconstruction are unaccounted for and as many as fiftyinvestigations were opened involving contractor fraud, kickbacks, bribery, andwaste. Currently, no Committee in this House has full investigative authorityto probe the growing public concerns.