Rep Price (NC) calls for war contractor accountability

North Carolina calls itself "the most military-friendly state in the country." It's home to several key military bases that have been engaged in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and it's also home to private contracts like Blackwater International and Research Triangle Institute.

This makes it especially noteworthy that Rep. David Price (D-4th District) today has announced legislation to boost oversight of military contractors overseas. Here's the announcement from Price's office:

Congressman David Price (NC-04) today introduced legislation that would bring about transparency, accountability, and battlefield coordination for private security contractors operating in a war zone.

Tens of thousands of armed private security contractors (PSCs) are working in Iraq and other conflict zones around the world. Both contractors and critics have complained that these PSCs are operating in a legal and logistical gray area, with scant coordination between contractors and the military personnel with whom they share the battle space and with no clear accountability for abuses.

"The lack of a legal framework for battlefield contracting has allowed certain rogue contractor employees to perpetrate heinous criminal acts without the threat of prosecution, and has left thousands of contractors working legitimately in support of U.S. missions exposed and at risk," Price said.

What exactly does Price's bill do? It focuses on expanding the powers of various government agencies to monitor and, when necessary, prosecute contract abuses:

Specifically, Price's legislation would expand the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act to include all contractors involved in a military operation, establish a Theater Security Contract Coordinating Officer to coordinate communications and operations between contractors and the military, and establish a Theater Investigative Unit of the FBI to investigate and prosecute criminal misconduct. It would also create a mechanism for gathering critical information about the nature, extent, and cost of contracting operations in a particular theater.

This is an important step towards reining in profiteering and abuses of human rights by contractors.

So far, co-sponsors include House Budget Committee Chairman and Armed Services Committee Member John Spratt, Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, Chief Deputy Majority Whip Jan Schakowsky, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, and Rep. Christopher Shays, a senior Republican Member of the Oversight & Government Reform Committee.