Grassley Statement on the Senate Passage of NDAA
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released the following statement on the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. The annual funding bill provides critical resources for national defense, military readiness and support for the nation’s military men and women.
“National defense is the number one responsibility of the federal government, so ensuring our defense and military efforts receive the appropriate resources is critical to the safety of our country,”
Grassley said. “I’m disappointed that my amendment to increase transparency and accountability in the contracting process was not included, but I will continue to conduct robust oversight to help decrease wasteful government spending.”
Grassley introduced several amendments to the Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA legislation that would have increased transparency by requiring the DOD to report to Congress on contracting practices, including a report on when contractors refuse to provide requested pricing data. The Grassley amendments were a product of his oversight work of contracting practices occurring at the DoD.
Earlier this year, Grassley sent a
letter to then-Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan asking for more information about how the DoD contracts with businesses and other entities in overpricing, specifically citing TransDigm. Additionally, Grassley asked about DoD’s process to collect cost data from those entities and how Congress can help DoD to stop price-gouging practices. Grassley also critiqued DoD’s contracts with TransDigm in a
floor speech and an
op-ed.
Grassley has been a watchdog against waste, fraud and abuse at the DoD for nearly four decades. Grassley’s extensive
oversight work throughout his career has included a dogged pursuit for answers from the Pentagon over decades of wasteful spending and its inability to produce a clean financial audit. Most recently, Grassley pressed the DoD on why it was purchasing
cups that cost $1,280 each. Last year, Grassley sent a
letter to Department of Defense Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn A. Fine seeking answers on why the department was wasting $14,000 of taxpayer money on individual
toilet seat covers. Grassley has also worked to hold the Defense Department
accountable for its excessive and largely unaccounted for spending in
Afghanistan, including a $43 million gas station.
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