{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/senator-fears-bills-language-will-hinder-probes", "Senator fears bill's language will hinder probes", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator fears bill's language will hinder probes \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Tuesday, December 12, 2017\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Ken Newton\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            \r\nPresident Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act Tuesday, a measure funding the American military for the 2018 fiscal year.\r\n\r\n\r\nMissouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted in favor of the $700 billion spending bill, which includes some priorities for St. Joseph.\r\n\r\n\r\nBut the Democratic lawmaker musters her state auditor roots when she fears the defense bill might hinder the work of the inspector general overseeing reconstruction in Afghanistan.\r\n\r\n\r\nRestrictive language in the bill, she said in a letter Monday, inhibits efforts to uncover misspent money.\r\n\r\n\r\nThis inspector general\u2019s office \u201chas identified billions of dollars of government waste, fraud and abuse,\u201d McCaskill said. \u201cIt has been an important partner in my efforts to protect taxpayer dollars, and I\u2019m committed to ensuring nothing gets in the way of its critical work.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nThe war in Afghanistan predates McCaskill\u2019s tenure in the Senate, but she became a leader in the chamber of contracting oversight in the rebuilding of that nation. Patterning it after a wartime profiteering probe initiated by then Sen. Harry Truman, she led the Financial & Contracting Oversight Committee for six years.\r\n\r\n\r\nLast year, she inserted into a law a prohibition on U.S. tax dollars being spent on work in Afghanistan if the project lacked access by oversight officials. This year, she called into question $400 million in American spending on Afghanistan projects on the verge of failure.\r\n\r\n\r\nShe has stewarded legislation offering whistleblower protections as a means of discovering instances of governmental waste or fraud.\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the defense measure signed Tuesday, McCaskill wrote in a letter to John F. Sopko, the special inspector general, that the bill\u2019s language requires specific auditing standards for all its work, even the work not associated with an audit, such as congressional testimony.\r\n\r\n\r\nSuch a restriction could undermine the inspector general\u2019s independence, she said. Her amendment to modify the requirement was not accepted into the final bill.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cIf at any time your office feels that the integrity of its oversight is endangered due to the new requirements in the (defense bill), please alert me,\u201d she urged the inspector general.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe bill signing puts in motion $10 million for construction of a communications facility at the Air National Guard base at Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, along with movement toward funding of a C-130H full-motion simulator at the base.\r\n\r\n\r\nMissouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican, on Tuesday noted that a measure he had introduced, the Military Family Stability Act, became law with the defense bill signing. It provides flexibility for service members when relocating to a new assignment.\r\n\r\n\r\nKansas Sen. Jerry Moran got into the bill a measure to give records access to veterans exposed to toxic substances. The Republican said the declassification of documents would affect 100 or more service members affected by these toxins.\r\n\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/senator-fears-bills-language-will-hinder-probes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.404609065502882, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}