Commission on Wartime Contracting

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CWC-NR-21

Wartime Contracting hearing will probe coordination of reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan

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ARLINGTON, VA, Feb. 17, 2010 – The federal Commission on Wartime Contracting will conduct a hearing in Washington, DC, on Feb. 22 to examine "An Urgent Need: Coordinating Reconstruction and Stabilization in Contingency Operations."

The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The commission will hear testimony from:

  • Stuart Bowen, the government’s Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction;
  • Maj. Gen. Arnold Fields, USMC (retired), Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction;
  • Robert Perito, Senior Program Officer, Centers of Innovation and Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, U.S. Institute of Peace;
  • Mark Schneider, Senior Vice President, International Crisis Group (ICG), formerly Peace Corps director and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State; and
  • Seth Jones, political scientist, RAND Corporation, and adjunct professor of security studies, Georgetown University. He spent most of last year assigned to US Special Operations Command in Kabul, Afghanistan, and travelled the country with Army Special Forces teams.
Points to be examined during the hearing include reconstruction and stabilization roles and responsibilities; planning and cooperation across U.S. government agencies, coalition partners, non-governmental organizations, and host-nation communities; and consideration of sustainability by host governments when assessing potential projects.

Commission Co-Chairs Michael Thibault and Christopher Shays said hearing follow-up will include asking the Departments of Defense and State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to respond to key points and to offer their own observations and suggestions based on their operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

NOTE: This hearing was originally announced for Feb. 5, but was postponed because of severe weather in the national-capital area.

Congress created the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008 (Public Law 110-181) to examine contingency contracting for reconstruction, logistics, and security functions, and to recommend improvements. In addition to Thibault and Shays, members are Clark Kent Ervin, Grant Green, Robert Henke, Katherine Schinasi, Charles Tiefer, and Dov Zakheim.

More information and links to Commission reports at on the Web at www.wartimecontracting.gov.

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