GOP to cosponsor war cost oversight panel

WASHINGTON -- Two House Republicans have agreed to cosponsor a landmark proposal to create a special House committee to investigate Iraq war spending, joining Democrats in demanding more accountability for billions of dollars that allegedly have been misspent, according to lawmakers and congressional aides.

The stalled proposal to create a modern-day ''Truman Committee" -- modeled after the oversight board run by then-Senator Harry Truman to root out contracting abuses during World War II -- has been blocked from consideration by GOP leaders for more than a year.

But after new reports about malfeasance involving reconstruction contracts in Iraq, the bill for the first time has begun to attract the support of rank-and-file Republicans.

''The federal government must be accountable for the money it spends," said Representative Gil Gutknecht, a Minnesota Republican who, along with Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina, informed Democratic colleagues last month that he would cosponsor the ''Truman bill."

''This bill will help ensure that the money we spend in Iraq and Afghanistan is spent responsibly," Gutknecht said in an e-mail response to Globe questions. ''American taxpayers deserve no less."

Jones, who made headlines last year when he said he regretted voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq, added in an interview that members of both parties can no longer ignore their constitutional responsibility to keep track of taxpayer dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

''Whether you are Republican or Democrat, people back home are asking, 'Are you watching carefully how our money is being spent?' " he said.

GOP members have previously expressed reluctance to support such a committee for Iraq, saying it would become a new forum for questioning the legitimacy of the war. The increasing bipartisan support is seen as evidence that some GOP lawmakers believe they can separate questions of how the war has been handled from the issue of whether the 2003 invasion was necessary.

''Many [in the GOP] have concluded that significant mistakes have been made, although they remain of a belief that the war is justified," said Representative Jim Leach of Iowa, who had been the lone Republican to support the bill. ''Others have increasing doubts about the wisdom of the decision itself."

The growing calls for a direct congressional oversight role are being made amid growing evidence of contracting abuses in Iraq. The Defense Department's inspector general has concluded that the military has failed to properly account for $8.8 billion in Iraqi reconstruction funds. Meanwhile, as many as 50 separate investigations have now been opened to look into charges of contractor fraud, kickbacks, bribery, and waste in war contracts.

''There is now ample evidence of the necessity of a modern day Truman Committee," according to a report issued last month by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.

Supporters in the House have been campaigning since early 2005 to establish a special oversight committee to investigate war spending, which currently totals more than $300 billion.

The proposal, which now has 35 cosponsors, was first put forward in February 2005 by Leach and Representative John F. Tierney, a Salem Democrat. Several attempts to get a hearing or attach the measure to other legislation have failed.

The new Republican backing increases the chances that the long-stalled bill will get a hearing in committee or on the House floor, though supporters acknowledge they still have to convince leaders that the bill is in the GOP's best interest.

''It's an idea that makes sense to people, especially since the stakes are so high," said Tierney, adding that a growing number of Republicans are expressing interest in the proposal. ''It takes a lot for these Republicans to sign on."

The Select Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, as the Truman Committee was officially named, operated between 1941 and 1948. The committee was so highly regarded as a way of policing war contracts that Truman won the Democratic nomination for vice president in 1944. He became president after Franklin Roosevelt's death in 1945.

Through its seven-year history, the committee held 432 public hearings and 300 executive sessions to review government contracts and spending during World War II. Investigators identified at least $15 billion in waste.

Under the current proposal, the new committee would be made up of 15 House members and have the power to subpoena witnesses to testify.

Its mission would include investigating the bidding, contracting, and auditing standards used in awarding contracts; forms of payment and safeguards used against profiteering; and the level of accountability for government officials involved in overseeing the contracts.

It would also be able to levy fines and disqualify contractors for serious violations of government policies, according to the legislation.

''The problem," said Jones, ''is we have a country that is eight trillion dollars in debt, we are borrowing more money from foreign governments, and we don't seem to have a strategy in Iraq, where we are spending $1.5 billion a week. I am going to support whoever believes we have to account to the taxpayer how the money is being spent."

Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.