mr. chairman , i move to strike the requisite number of words . 
i rise in strong support of the tierney amendment , and frankly think it would be irresponsible not to vote for the tierney amendment . 
all the gentleman is asking for is fiscal accountability on over $ 200 billion that is being spent far beyond these shores . 
the gentleman is asking for accountability . 
to not pass the tierney amendment is to be fiscally irresponsible and to continue to be unaccountable to the taxpayers of this country . 
let me remind members , the amount of money we have now spent in iraq is over $ 200 billion . 
we do more checking on the books of churches around this country than we do on the expenditure of $ 200 billion . 
according to a 2003 gao report , `` iraq appears to be the first case where the united states government has used private contractors extensively for protecting persons and property in potentially hostile or hostile situations. '' indeed , it is estimated there are as many as 20 , 000 private military personnel in iraq . 
what are they all doing ? 
why are private companies protecting some of the highest level officials we have there rather than our u.s. military ? 
who is writing those contracts ? 
what about abu ghraib ? 
what kind of contract was struck there ? 
what kind of accountability existed ? 
well , it did not , why not ? 
we ought to be investigating as a nation . 
mr. chairman , what happens with $ 200 billion , our people have a right to know . 
never have we had a military conflict where so many private contractors are involved . 
we should be concerned about this and concerned about who is writing these contracts . 
a recently congressional quarterly article indicated , `` neither the defense department nor private industry says it has exact numbers of how many people are on private payrolls under contracts paid by u.s. tax dollars. '' we should do what is right with the money of the american people . 
there does not appear to be any legal framework in place to handle and deal with the role of nonmilitary personnel in a war zone . 
indeed , the liability of contractors who violate the law operating in iraq , afghanistan , and guantanamo bay is ambiguous so we have more responsibility to have strong oversight over these dollars that are being expended . 
i can not think of a better amendment to pass than this one . 
federal procurement data suggests that money allocated to military contractors via federal procurement has jumped by more than $ 70 billion in the last 3 fiscal years . 
someone here should care . 
we should do what we would do within our own families and look at every single line in these accounts . 
there is an awful lot of slippage . 
in january , the special inspector general for the iraqi reconstruction reported that the coalition provisional authority could not account for over $ 8.8 billion . 
mr. chairman , i want to commend the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. tierney ) xz4004070 for doing what is right , what is fiscally responsible , what provides the accountability that we have responsibility for . 
i heard another reference on the radio this morning that iraq is going to be a generational commitment like world war ii was . 
if we are going to spend that kind of money , we ought to make doggone sure that every dollar is properly accounted for . 
i was pretty upset when i saw big photos of big stacks of money being handed out on the streets over there . 
i asked one of the top generals the other day if we are paying for the training of the iraqi national guard and these troops that are supposed to replace our troops . 
he said , no , congresswoman , someone else is paying for that . 
i am still looking and want to know who is paying for some of these units . 
i say congratulations to the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. tierney ) xz4004070 , who has an uphill struggle here . 
but he is doing what is right for america in order to make sure that we are responsible to the taxpayer and accountable for every single dollar being expended . 
please support the tierney amendment . 
