WASHINGTON—Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., Monday released the following statement on the report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (“Longstanding Weaknesses in Department of State’s Oversight of DynCorp Contract for Support of the Iraqi Police Training Program”) that found repeated oversight weaknesses leading to untold amounts of wasted taxpayer dollars:
“The State Department appears to be sleepwalking through its oversight obligations. It has known for years that the weak and sloppy oversight of a $2.5 billion contract to support an Iraqi police training program leaves it vulnerable to improper billings and cost overruns. And State has repeatedly committed to beef up staffing. Yet, we still seem to be at the starting point, with State once again vowing to review the personnel necessary to oversee this contract properly. It’s inexplicable that this hasn’t been done yet. No private sector company worth its salt would spend $2.5 billion on a contract and then ask one to three people to oversee it. A vigorous contract management strategy for this contract is now more urgent than it has ever been.”
-30-