Congressman David Price (D-NC) today participated in a press conference unveiling a new Human Right First report on the government’s management and supervision of private contractors in the war zone.

The report – entitled “Private Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity" – calls upon Congress to enact Price’s legislation (H.R. 2740) to ensure that all war contractors are held accountable under the U.S. criminal code. The group also urges the Justice Department to use its current authority to investigate and prosecute cases of potential contractor abuse that have been documented in the media.

“The Human Rights First report is a milestone, a clarion call for immediate action to address a problem that has plagued the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan from the start,” Price said in a speech this morning. “I sincerely hope that the Senate will act soon and that the Administration will cooperate with our efforts [to pass my contractor accountability legislation].”

The full text of Price’s speech follows below.

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“Thank you for inviting me to the unveiling of this report on security contactors, which I hope will help concentrate our government’s attention on an issue that simply must be addressed.

“On March 31, 2004, four American contractors were killed on the streets of Fallujah – their corpses mutilated against the backdrop of a cheering crowd.

“As Americans, that event shocked our sensibilities, to see young American men treated in such a way by those whom we had supposedly “liberated.” It also served as a wake-up call for me and many of my colleagues who were unaware of the presence of armed security contractors who could be caught up in the fighting. Certainly we were unaware of the extent to which our government was relying on these contractors to perform activities that we considered to be within the sole domain of our armed forces.

“Months later, we were once again shocked to learn that private contractors were involved in the interrogation of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. I challenge anyone to argue that it is appropriate for our government to contract out to a private civilian the interrogation of war prisoners.

“After learning of these alarming facts, I and a few of my colleagues decided that we needed to further probe this activity, and to ascertain the rules and guidelines under which these private security contractors were operating. What we learned was profoundly troubling: little in the way of standards for hiring and training security contractors; minimal oversight of their activities; and the most glaring of all, absolutely no legal accountability for misconduct.

“When talking about this issue, I often draw a contrast to the way the justice system works for military personnel. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines all work under a strict chain of command that requires accountability. And every single one of them knows they are subject to the laws of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Meanwhile, armed civilian contractors are operating in the same environment with no accountability under the law. When we hold our troops accountable for their actions during war, it is maddening to see rogue contractors operate as if they are above the law. This is the contradiction that I have been trying to fix for over three years now. And it seems like our efforts are finally starting to break through.

“In the Spring of 2004, my colleague Chris Shays and I worked to include in the Defense Authorization bill a provision clarifying that the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) applied to civilian contractors in the war zone. Although that bill was signed into law, the Administration’s implementation of MEJA continued to fall far short. Then, within the same year, the Coalition Provisional Authority was dissolved, shifting the legal environment and rendering a new gap in MEJA’s jurisdiction. So that battle lived to see another day.

“In the meantime, I worked on additional legislation requiring the Department of Defense and other contracting agencies to establish guidelines for managing contractors in the field – that includes setting clear rules of engagement and minimum standards for hiring and training contractors, and enhancing the military’s role in coordinating the movement of contractor convoys.

“Finally, during this past year, we saw some real progress on these contractor accountability measures. My provisions were included in the Defense Authorization bill requiring these reforms in the way contractors are managed and overseen by our government. The President vetoed that bill for unrelated reasons; however, I fully expect that legislation will very soon become law.

“And perhaps most importantly, the House took a major step forward in passing my legislation, H.R. 2740, which would subject all contractors to civilian criminal jurisdiction and provide the Justice Department with the means and direction to actually investigate and prosecute potential abuse. This would close the legal loophole that has allowed contractors to act with impunity. We passed that bill on October 4th of last year, and it is still awaiting action in the Senate.

“According to press reports, at least three more Iraqi civilians have been killed and five more wounded while the Senate has deliberated on the House-passed bill. It has been slowed by the initial opposition from the White House, which from the beginning has shown little or no interest in addressing this fundamental issue of justice. We will lack the ability to hold individuals accountable for such incidents until this bill is passed. It is timely, urgent, and critically important, and I sincerely hope that the Senate will act soon and that the Administration will cooperate with our efforts along the way.

“The Human Rights First report is a milestone, a clarion call for immediate action to address a problem that has plagued the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan from the start. I applaud their leadership, and I appreciate your interest in this critical issue.”