Byron Dorgan: “I have held a good many hearings. I am not easily surprised any longer about what I hear at these hearings of the…”

“I have held a good many hearings. I am not easily surprised any longer about what I hear at these hearings of the unbelievable waste and fraud and abuse in Government contracting, where American taxpayers are being fleeced and where our soldiers are being disserved by waste and fraud and abuse. I do get surprised, even though I say it is hard to surprise me. Today I hear about the stealing of artwork and rugs and crystal, the stealing of gold in Iraq in some of the palaces by contract employees, the stealing of gold and melting down of gold to make spurs for cowboy boots--something I hadn't heard before--the charging of a 100-percent markup on a little thing like a laptop computer. There is testimony today of the purchase of 300 laptops to be delivered to DynCorp in Iraq. They were purchased for $1,400 apiece, and then the Government is charged $2,800. That is a 100-percent markup.”