Schakowsky’s Statement on State Department’s $120 Million Task Order to the Former Blackwater

 

WASHINGTON, DC — (June 19, 2010) Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued the following statement in response to the announcement that the company formerly known as Blackwater, now United States Training Center, received a task order worth up to $120 million.

"I was extremely disappointed to learn that the United States Training Center (USTC), the company formerly known as Blackwater, has been awarded another lucrative U.S. State Department task order for protective security services in Afghanistan.  This is a company whose cowboy-like behavior has not only resulted in civilian deaths; it has also jeopardized our mission and the safety of U.S. troops and diplomatic personnel worldwide.  Instead of punishing Blackwater for its extensive history of serious abuses the State Department is rewarding the company with up to $120 million in taxpayer funds.

"I strongly believe that the former Blackwater should not be receiving further U.S. contracts, and I have repeatedly urged the U.S. government to no longer do business with this company. Though the name Blackwater has become synonymous with the worst of contractor abuses, the bigger problem is our dangerous reliance on such companies for the business of waging war. Our use of private contractors undermines our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have introduced legislation, the Stop Outsourcing Security Act (H.R. 4650), which would phase out private security contractors....