Byron Dorgan: “I use this opportunity when we appropriate money to make the point. It is not the responsibility or the burden of a…”

“I use this opportunity when we appropriate money to make the point. It is not the responsibility or the burden of a couple people who have put together a good appropriations bill to bear the responsibility for a lack of oversight that exists and the lack of oversight that exists in the entire Congress. I only raise this because I think it is critically important that all of us understand. There is far too much waste and fraud and abuse in some of these contracts. I recognize that wartime is different. There are times during wartime when you do things you might not otherwise do. You might not be quite as efficient or effective. Some money may be wasted. But this seems like hogs in a trough when you see what is going on. We are spending so many billions. We added $18.2 billion for reconstruction in Iraq, and the grunting and shoving and moaning of hogs at the trough trying to find some of that money. I mentioned Custer Battles. Two guys would show up with hardly a taxi fare, get $100 million in contracts, and now we discover the American taxpayer has been fleeced for much of that. The water isn't going to clear up until you get the hogs out of the creek. We need to find a way to address these issues, most especially those raised with food and water to troops. Let me say to Senators Stevens and Inouye, I want to work with them. I know they want the same result I want with respect to these issues. That is the only reason I raise this today.…”