Iraq Inspector General Office Gets Second Life

With little fanfare, Congress is reversing a pre-election decision to close down the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. On Tuesday, the Senate passed a provision extending the life of the office, which was to close in September 2007. The House has agreed to vote on the measure before adjournment.

According to the New York Times, the measure to close the office originated with Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), a possible 2008 Presidential candidate.

In October, members of Mr. Duncan’s staff inserted an obscure provision into a huge defense authorization bill that would force the inspector general’s office to begin shutting down almost immediately. Because the office, led by a Republican lawyer, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., has repeatedly uncovered instances of wasted money, shoddy construction and criminal fraud in the rebuilding program, the move caused an outcry among Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

A bill to reverse the termination, introduced by Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, with several Democratic and Republican co-sponsors was passed in the Senate on Wednesday. But an identical bill introduced in the House by Representative Ike Skelton, Democrat of Missouri, appeared to have little chance when the majority leadership made no move to bring it to a floor for a vote.

Suspicion fell on Mr. Hunter, but as the day wore on Mr. Skelton said that in a reversal, the erstwhile opponent of an extension was in fact helping shepherd the bill through the House. Late Thursday, a staff member for the House majority leader, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said that the bill would definitely move to the floor for a vote on Friday and that it was likely to pass.

Timeline

• "A provision in the latest [October] Pentagon spending bill pulls the plug on the office in September, requiring Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general, to wrap up work by that time." [cite]
• Before November elections, "A provision buried deep inside a large Defense Authorization Act, recently passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, would terminate the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction office, responsible for exposing waste fraud and abuse in Iraq, is to close on October 1, 2007. The provision- which was not in either the House or Senate passed legislation-- was slipped into the bill in a closed door Conference Committee with no debate and with few Members of Congress even knowing." [cite]
• After November elections, "The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to keep alive the federal agency that looks for waste and fraud in taxpayer-financed reconstruction projects in Iraq, hoping to reverse a recently passed law that would close the office next year." [cite]
• On Tuesday, the Senate approved - by voice vote - a provision overriding the October action. "The measure the Senate passed on a voice vote Tuesday would give Bowen until 10 months after 80 percent of the $32 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds Congress has committed has been spent." [cite]

Here's the legislative history.

See First Iraq Kickback Case Filed, Audit: Weapons In Iraq MIA, Ditto Plan?, Iraq Reconstruction: Fraud-Filled Program To Be Exempt From Iraq Auditor Oversight, Civil War In Iraq: Yes or No?, Vietnam and Iraq: The Tragedy of Unlearned Lessons (guest editorial), Cheney: Iraq Not Worth Casualities

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