John Yarmuth: “as our constituents put the finishing touches on their tax returns, many of them are probably wondering just how much we…”

“as our constituents put the finishing touches on their tax returns, many of them are probably wondering just how much we will be sending to Iraq. Taxpayers are rightfully outraged, as are many Members of this body, by the massive levels of waste, fraud and corruption documented in large government contracts to well-connected firms. Under the Bush administration, the use of no-bid contracts has doubled and the Defense Contract Audit Agency believes that $10 billion of the taxpayers' money has been spent on questionable or unsupported costs in Iraq contracts. Madam Speaker, House Democrats are bringing much-needed accountability to the government contracting business by cracking down on no-bid contracts, protecting Federal whistleblowers, and withholding Federal contracts from tax-delinquent companies. While Democrats would like to see a change of policy in Iraq, we, like the average taxpayer, want to prevent our money from being wasted. We are taking the steps necessary to ensure that no longer happens.”