Senate Judiciary Committee
Okays Leahy Bill
To Combat War Profiteering

WASHINGTON (Wednesday, April 25) – The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved legislation sponsored by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that takes aim at the widespread contracting fraud, waste and abuse in Iraq.

The “War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007” (S. 119) would create criminal penalties for war profiteers and cheats who would exploit taxpayer-funded efforts in Iraq and elsewhere around the world.  The legislation builds on earlier efforts by Chairman Leahy, who is also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, to crack down on this type of rampant fraud and abuse.  It is similar to legislation Leahy introduced in 2003, which was subsequently passed by the Senate as part of an appropriations bill but later torpedoed by the White House and the House Republican leadership, who stripped out the Leahy provision. 

The bill has been co-sponsored by one-fifth of the Senate including Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) -- all members of the Judiciary Committee.

“This legislation clarifies that no one anywhere in the world can defraud this country during a time of war or emergency -- and get away with it,” said Leahy.

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Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 119)
April 25, 2007 

Last month, this Committee held a hearing on war profiteering in which we learned that rampant fraud and abuse undermines our troops in Iraq, and threatens the reconstruction and relief activities.  According to our witnesses, billions of dollars spent in Iraq remain unaccounted for, and the fraud and abuse we face in Iraq amounts to a “second insurgency.”

These witnesses described some of the most extraordinary examples of this fraud, including schemes to steal tens of millions from the American tax payers through illegal kick backs, submitting false invoices, and bribing officials.   

On the first day of this new Congress, I introduced the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007, S.119, to help fight this abuse.  The bill has 18 cosponsors, including Senators Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, Durbin, and Cardin. 

This legislation clarifies that no one anywhere in the world can defraud this country during a time of war or emergency -- and get away with it. 

I offer an amendment to the bill today to eliminate potentially ambiguous language and to make clear that the new war profiteering violation can be the basis for money laundering and RICO violations, as was the original intent of the bill.

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