Federal Drive

Analysis: Wartime contracting bill a ‘major step’

Two senators are trying to change the way agencies plan for wartime contracting by introducing a bill that would incorporate ideas from the Commission on Wartim...

Federal News Network Staff

March 5, 2012 9:29 am

< a min read

wfedstaff | June 4, 2015 6:05 pm

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Two senators are trying to change the way agencies plan for wartime contracting.

Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) have sponsored a bill that would incorporate ideas from the Commission on Wartime Contracting. That group found the U.S. lost up to $60 billion to fraud, waste and abuse during contracting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It goes a very long way,” said Dov Zakheim, a former member of the commission, about the bill. “It doesn’t address all of the problems, and, in one or two respects, it probably goes further than we’ve gone. But I would say generally it’s a major step in the right direction.”

Zakheim joined The Federal Drive with Tom Temin to share his thoughts on whether the bill hits the mark.