WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, today released the following statement in response to a report from the new acting Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction:
“Now that we were able to get new leadership in the Inspector General’s office, this report is a roadmap that gives us a sobering look at just how much work must be done to protect taxpayers’ money. Now is the time to hold peoples’ feet to the fire, get these recommendations implemented, and install a level of accountability that has been sorely missing. American taxpayers deserve to know that every dime being spent on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan is being spent wisely—and with the same oversight we would expect on a project in this country.”
The report is among the first audits since the resignation of former Inspector General Arnold Fields. Last year, McCaskill repeatedly raised concerns regarding Fields’ performance, and successfully called on the President to remove Fields as Special Inspector General after calling him to testify before her Subcommittee at a hearing last November.
