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House Passes Schakowsky Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act Providing Oversight of Private Security Contractors

July 12, 2019

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip, released the following statement upon passage of her amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which will help provide essential oversight of private security contractors:

“Right now, the Defense Department, Congress, and American public have no idea what armed, private contractors, are doing in the name of the United States around the world. We have no idea how many Americans are serving as civilian security contractors on behalf of the military. We don’t know how many private security contractors have been wounded or killed. We don’t know how much the U.S. is paying to use private security contractors and if they provide a cost savings to the taxpayer. And we have almost no oversight of their behavior when operating abroad – good or bad.

“Private contractors do not swear an oath to the United States, but rather serve a corporation. They do not wear the uniform of the United States, though their behavior has, on numerous occasions, severely damaged the credibility and security of our military and harmed our relationship with other governments. Some have literally been able to get away with murder. Contractors are not subject to the same rigorous standards of behavior and conduct as are members of our armed forces, and they operate outside the traditional military chain of command, answering to a corporation, not a uniformed commander.

“Since 9/11, every president has used contractors to mask the true size of forces sent overseas. If a president is deploying 1000 troops, there may be many thousands more private contractors deployed to support them. The United States needs to better consider its reliance on private, for-profit security contractors. We have reached a dangerous point where our military and intelligence community literally could not function without these private corporations. At times, the Pentagon had more contract personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan than it had uniformed troops.

“I’m very pleased my amendment passed with the bipartisan support. I look forward to it being signed into law and to begin shining a light on the scope of this problem.

“The Schakowsky amendment tasks the Defense Department Inspector General to compile a report for Congress that covers four areas: 1. The number of private security contractors accompanying U.S. forces in areas of contingency operations; 2. The total costs of these contracts; 3. The number of contractors wounded or killed; and 4. Any disciplinary actions that have been taken against contractors.”