Ranking Member Tierney's Work To Cut Waste, Fraud, And Abuse In Wartime Contracting
The latest....
On May 24, 2012 Ranking Member Tierney and Chairman Jason Chaffetz sent joint letters to Supreme Foodservice GmbH and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)requesting a host of documents relating to their ongoing investigation into a multi-billion dollar contract to provide food and other supplies to American bases in Afghanistan. According to internal reports and other documents obtained by the Subcommittee, Pentagon auditors have concluded that $757 million in charges submitted by Supreme over the past six years are unsupported and lack proper documentation to justify the charges.
Read the letter to Supreme Foodservice GmbH
Read the letter to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
Read the 2008 DCAA Audit
Read the 2011 DCAA Audit
Follow the links below for more information on his work to save taxpayers money by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in wartime contracting.
In 2010, Congressman Tierney led a National Security Subcommittee investigation of jet fuel contracts in Kyrgyzstan, a major transit hub for Afghanistan, and issued a report, entitled Mystery at Manas, that outlined serious concerns regarding potential corruption and a lack of oversight. The Kyrgyz prosecutor general is now conducting a criminal investigation into allegations of corruption in those fuel contracts.
Earlier that year, Tierney released a report entitled, Warlord, Inc. Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan on June 22, 2010. The report culminates a six-month investigation at the direction of Tierney into the Department of Defense's Host Nation Trucking (HNT) contract. Tierney found that the DoD's principal logistics contract in Afghanistan had bred a vast extortion racket that was a major source of funding for insurgents, warlords, and criminal patronage networks.
In response to Rep. Tierney's 2010 investigation, DoD established two task forces to address the problem of contracting corruption. In July 2011, the Washington Post reported that Task Force 2010 concurred with Rep. Tierney's findings and concluded that the trucking contract was a major source of funding for malign actors. In August 2011, the AP reported that Task Force 2010 had identified $360 million from U.S. contingency contracts in Afghanistan that had been diverted to warlords, powerbrokers, criminal patronage networks, or insurgents. Two weeks ago, the Commission on Wartime Contracting also confirmed billions in waste in war spending days before Congressman Tierney introduced legislation to implement one their recommendations.
In 2008, Chairman Henry Waxman and the House Oversight Committee conducted a preliminary investigation that raised serious concerns regarding potential corruption on a jet fuel contract in Iraq with International Oil Trading Company. Chairman Waxman referred the investigation to Secretary Gates who, in turn, referred the investigation to the DOD Inspector General. The Inspector General's report raised serious concerns about the lack of competition on the contract, DLA's lack of appropriate oversight, and evidence of potential corruption.
The announcement also follows multiple hearings held by the National Security Subcommittee and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during the 112th Congress. In September 2011, the Subcommittee continued oversight of the Subcommittee's 2010 investigation of contracting corruption in the U.S. Army's $2.2 billion Afghanistan Host Nation Trucking contract. In October 2011, the Subcommittee held its second hearing on the status of preparations by the Defense and State Department for the transition of responsibilities to a civilian-led mission in Iraq. Also in October 2011, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on the Commission on Wartime Contracting's final report to Congress, which highlighted up to $60 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse in contingency contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. In December 2011, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the roles of the inspectors general in monitoring American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.