{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-raises-concerns-over-potential-limits-on-oversight-of-us-spending-in-afghanistan-", "McCaskill Raises Concerns Over Potential Limits on Oversight of U.S. Spending in Afghanistan", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "McCaskill Raises Concerns Over Potential Limits on Oversight of U.S. Spending in Afghanistan  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Defense bill could limit role of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which identifies waste and fraud in U.S. government-funded projects in Afghanistan \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMonday, December 11, 2017\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is raising concerns over the possibility that this year\u2019s annual defense bill could limit the oversight work of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which has played a critical role in identifying waste and fraud in U.S. government-funded projects in Afghanistan.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis office has identified billions of dollars of government waste, fraud, or 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\nThis year\u2019s annual defense bill requires the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction to use specific auditing guidelines for its work overseeing the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund, but much of the Office\u2019s work includes non-audit products such as Quarterly Reports to Congress. McCaskill had filed an amendment to strike the provision, but it was not accepted. She encouraged Special Inspector General John Spoko to come forward if the new provision limits his efforts. \u201cThe work SIGAR does is vital to identifying waste, fraud and abuse to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent and it is essential that SIGAR\u2019s work continue unfettered,\u201d McCaskill wrote.\u00a0\u201cIf at any time your office feels that the integrity of its oversight is endangered due to the new requirements in the [annual defense bill], please alert me.\u201d\r\n\r\nInformation from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has extensively informed McCaskill\u2019s efforts to target waste, fraud, and abuse. Just this year, McCaskill demanded answers after the Office\u2019s report found that six projects in Afghanistan costing almost $400 million are at risk of failure and after another of the Office\u2019s reports found that the Department of Defense spent up to $28 million on uniforms with a \u201cforest\u201d pattern despite the fact that forests cover only 2.1 percent of Afghanistan\u2019s total land area. McCaskill has repeatedly raised concerns over Jorge Scientific/Imperatis contracts following the Office\u2019s investigations into the contractor. Most recently, McCaskill blew the whistle on a Jorge Scientific/Imperatis subcontract that billed over $50 million in questionable costs to the Army.\r\n\r\nRead McCaskill\u2019s letter to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction HERE.\r\n\r\nVisit\u00a0mccaskill.senate.gov/spending\u00a0to learn more about McCaskill's fight to cut wasteful government spending.\r\n\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\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/news-releases/mccaskill-raises-concerns-over-potential-limits-on-oversight-of-us-spending-in-afghanistan-"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.59698205627501, "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"}