Mccaskill Statement On Wartime Contracting Commission Hearing On Kabul Embassy Contract

Statement

Mccaskill Statement On Wartime Contracting Commission Hearing On Kabul Embassy Contract

I applaud the Commission on Wartime Contracting for their timely hearing on the recent, troubling allegations relating to the contractor guard force at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. When I addressed the Commission at its first hearing in February, I called on the Commission to restore accountability to government contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nowhere is this more necessary than in the outsourcing of our nation's security.

At the Senate hearing I chaired on the Kabul Embassy guard force contract in June, I asked Wackenhut and the State Department to explain why they had failed to correct persistent problems with staffing that were so severe that the State Department said that the safety of the embassy had been placed “in jeopardy.” Both the Department and Wackenhut assured me that all major problems had been corrected.

Thanks to the Project on Government Oversight and the courageous whistleblowers who came forward, we now know different. These allegations are the latest indications of a disturbing breakdown in the federal government's management and oversight of private security contracts. It's time to take a hard look at whether these contracts are actually keeping our men and women overseas secure."

The Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight held a hearing on the contract in June. Following the Project on Government Oversight's release earlier this month of photos showing inappropriate behavior by contractor employees, McCaskill asked the State Department to do a full investigation.

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