Transcript of McKinney's Exchange with Rumsfeld, Myers and Jonas

[G_j]

http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/031505_mckinney_transcript.shtml

Transcript of Representative Cynthia McKinney's Exchange with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers, and Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Tina Jonas, March 11th, 2005

Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld in House Hearing on FY06 Dept. of Defense Budget
Chairman Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and witnesses Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and JCS Chairman General Richard Myers hold a House Hearing on the FY 2006 Budget for the Department of Defense and Military Services.

3/11/2005: WASHINGTON, DC: 2 hr. 5 min.

CMK: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
DR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
RM: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers
TJ: Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Tina Jonas
DH: Chairman Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

25:20
CMK: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, I watched President Bush deliver a moving speech at the United Nations in September 2003, in which he mentioned the crisis of the sex trade. The President called for the punishment of those involved in this horrible business. But at the very moment of that speech, DynCorp was exposed for having been involved in the buying and selling of young women and children. While all of this was going on, DynCorp kept the Pentagon contract to administer the smallpox and anthrax vaccines, and is now working on a plague vaccine through the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program. Mr. Secretary, is it policy of the U.S. Government to reward companies that traffic in women and little girls?

That's my first question. My second question, Mr. Secretary: according to the Comptroller General of the United States, there are serious financial management problems at the Pentagon, to which Mr. Cooper alluded.

Fiscal Year 1999: $2.3 trillion missing.

Fiscal Year 2000, $1.1 trillion missing.

And DoD is the number one reason why the government can't balance its checkbook. The Pentagon has claimed year after year that the reason it can't account for the money is because its computers don't communicate with each other.

My second question, Mr. Secretary, is who has the contracts today, to make those systems communicate with each other? How long have they had those contracts, and how much have the taxpayers paid for them?

Finally Mr. Secretary, after the last Hearing, I thought that my office was promised a written response to my question regarding the four wargames on September 11th. I have not yet received that response, but would like for you to respond to the questions that I've put to you today. And then I do expect the written response to my previous question - hopefully by the end of the week.

<snip>

[bobthedrummer]

1. Such simple questions, surely Rumsfeld can answer them.

[Mandate My Ass]

2. Hoooooooo Weeeeeeeeeee

Thanks for that link. Rep. McKinney should give journalism lessons:

DR: Thank you, Representative. First, the answer to your first question is, is, no, absolutely not, the policy of the United States Government is clear, unambiguous, and opposed to the activities that you described. The second question -

CMK: Well how do you explain the fact that DynCorp and its successor companies have received and continue to receive government contracts?

DR: I would have to go and find the facts, but there are laws and rules and regulations with respect to government contracts, and there are times that corporations do things they should not do, in which case they tend to be suspended for some period; there are times then that the - under the laws and the rules and regulations for the - passed by the Congress and implemented by the Executive branch - that corporations can get off of - out of the penalty box if you will, and be permitted to engage in contracts with the government. They're generally not barred in perpetuity -

CMK: This contract - this company - was never in the penalty box. If you could proceed to my second question, please.

DR: The second question - I've forgotten what the second question was.

Owch! :hi:

[G_j]

3. exactly, can you imagine if reporters took this approach?

once again, I asked a simple question, now will you please answer it!
No? Well then I will ask it AGAIN! (not a quote)

Rummy was grasping for straws and sounding very much out of his comfort zone. Go get em CMK! :yourock:

[Just Me]

4. Um,...WOW!

She's gettin' that info out there IN SPITE of these neoCONs' persistent avoidance: they are NEVER responsive, EVER!

[G_j]

5. unfortunately (for example)

despite McKinney bringing up the missing trillions a number of times in the past, Americans have never heard about it.

[Just Me]

13. T-R-I-L-L-I-O-N-S!!! That's a helluva LOT of money!!!

TRILLIONS of taxpayer money just,...disappeared?!?!?! That is mind-blowing!!!

How many countries could be literally BOUGHT with that kind of money!!!

What the hell are they doing with that kind of money?

[Im with Rosey]

14. Okay, I admit

This is just beyond my comprehension. I can't even imagine what could be done with TRILLIONS. How can we begin the process of DEMANDING where (how many zeros is that?) that money has gone? I'm trying really hard not to be pollyanna here but why aren't we pushing this issue? Anyone,anyone?

[G_j]

15. Auditor's report

scanned from the
Department of Defense
Independent Auditors Report on the FY 2001 DoD
Annual Financial Report and Report on Internal Controls and
Compliance with Laws and Regulations http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/missing_money/images/1.1trillion.htm
====================
(and Kucinich has been looking into missing $$ for a while)

http://www.house.gov/kucinich/press/pr-020627-defensedeptaudit.htm

House Approves Kucinich Amendment Requiring Defense Department Complete an Audit
Amendment Follows Reports of 1.2 Million Missing Chemical and Biological Weapons Protective Suits

In the wake of a recent GAO report, which found that the Department of Defense could not account for 1.2 million protective chemical and biological suits, the House, today, passed an amendment offered by Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), that would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to complete an audit of protective suits and all other assets. The amendment to the FY '03 Defense Department Appropriations spending bill would withhold 1% of the budget of any section of the DoD if that section does not complete an audit. The Kucinich amendment, through bringing the crisis of the missing protective suits to light, was offered as a means to protect the troops.

Earlier this week, at a Government Reform Subcommittee meeting, requested by Kucinich, a GAO report determined that DoD could not locate 1.2 million chemical and biological protective suits needed to protect U.S. troops in combat.

The Pentagon's accounting systems are so bad that several military units actually thought they had an excess of the protective suits. As a result, they went ahead and resold suits costing $200 for $3 a piece on the Internet. Even worse, some suits were purchased by individuals now under investigation by a terrorism task force. A quarter of a million suits were determined two years ago to be defective also cannot be located and therefore could be shipped to soldiers in the field, according to official testimony.

"The Pentagon's inability to pass an independent audit has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars in wasted spending, and now recent evidence shows that Defense Department's accounting problems are putting our troops at risk," stated Kucinich. "My amendment would assure that the DoD follow the law, complete an audit, protect our troops with the equipment we've purchased, and assure taxpayers that their money is not wasted."

Since Congress mandated audits in the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act of 1990, no major part of the Pentagon has passed the test of an independent audit.

According to the General Accounting Office (GAO) 2001 "High Risk" Series report the Department of Defense could not match $22 billion worth of expenditures to the items they purchased. The same reported stated, the Navy wrote off as "lost" over $3 billion dollars worth of in-transit inventory.

Kucinich's amendment, adopted today in the House, addresses a long-standing problem at the Department of Defense. In March 2000, the Pentagon's Inspector General found that of $7.6 trillion in accounting entries, $2.3 trillion were 'not supported by adequate audit trails or sufficient evidence to determine their validity'.

[Just Me]

16. Several trillion don't just disappear. I have to contain my imagination.

Who holds all that money?

[G_j]

17. mmmm

does the "Shadow Government" have an infrastructure?

maybe some of it is there
probably some is stashed away in some foreign bank accounts
slush funds?
who knows?

[spooky3]

18. whew--$1 trillion / 196 Jeff Gannon visits to WH =

one very well paid "friend."

[hootinholler]

20. That's 12 zeros...

TO help visualize this try going here. They present the cost of the war in Iraq (still in billions) to the impact the same money would have on various humanitarian efforts.

-Hoot

[rndmprsn]

22. thanks for the link... NT

[seemslikeadream]

19. Why don't we ask Dov Zakheim were the $2.3 trillion went? He should know.

Dov S. Zakheim was sworn in as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Defense on May 4, 2001. Dr. Zakheim has previously served in a number of key positions in government and private business. Most recently, he was corporate vice president of System Planning Corp., a technology, research and analysis firm based in Arlington, Va. He also served as chief executive officer of SPC International Corp., a subsidiary specializing in political, military and economic consulting. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he served as a senior foreign policy advisor to then-Governor Bush.

From 1985 until March 1987, Dr. Zakheim was Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Planning and Resources in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy). In that capacity, he played an active role in the Department's system acquisition and strategic planning processes. Dr. Zakheim held a variety of other DoD posts from 1981 to 1985. Earlier, he was employed by the National Security and International Affairs Division of the Congressional Budget Office.

Dr. Zakheim has been a participant on a number of government, corporate, non-profit and charitable boards. His government service includes terms on the United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; the Task Force on Defense Reform (1997); the first Board of Visitors of the Department of Defense Overseas Regional Schools (1998); and the Defense Science Board task force on "The Impact of DoD Acquisition Policies on the Health of the Defense Industry" (2000).

A 1970 graduate of Columbia University with a bachelor's in government, Dr. Zakheim also studied at the London School of Economics. He earned his doctorate in economics and politics at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, where he was graduate fellow in programs of both the National Science Foundation and Columbia College, and then a research fellow. Dr. Zakheim has been an adjunct professor at the National War College, Yeshiva University, Columbia University and Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., where he was presidential scholar.
http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/zakheim_bio.html


Ooopys Dov doesn't work there any more :shrug:


Pentagon finance manager resigns

Thursday 11 March 2004

Rabbi Dov Zakheim's refused to tell journalists the exact reason for his departure on Wednesday. A former adjunct economics professor at New York's Yeshiva University, Rabbi Zakheim has spent more than 30 years working in various jobs at the Pentagon.

But he has also worked in private industry, specifically as a consultant to McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.


Rabbi Dov Zakheim,
Pentagon comptroller and chief financial officer, a conservative Republican who graduated from Jew's College in London in 1973, Zakheim first joined the Department of Defence in 1981 under former president Ronald Reagan.

He was responsible for such tasks as preparing defence planning guidance for nuclear war.

As Pentagon Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer, Rabbi Zakheim's priority has been financial management.
But that does not include additional spending needed to support US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - a sum expected to range from $30 billion to $50 billion.

A General Accounting Office report found Defence inventory systems so lax that the US army lost track of 56 aeroplanes, 32 tanks and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units.
more
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/635B6007-9DD0-436C-BFF6-E6521520B1C7.htm

[G_j]

21. is it too silly to ask

why he hasn't been pulled before Congress and questioned?
Has anyone?

[Al-CIAda]

6. Great post -nt

[G_j]

8. feel free to give it

a vote.. :-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. There are only two realistic explanations for "missing" that much money

A) Massive corruption

B) A massive "black budget" for ops that are too nasty to reveal publicly

The correct answer is probably "both A and B."

[seemslikeadream]

9. Four wargames on September 11th

Four wargames on September 11th

[G_j]

10. yes, I would like to hear the answers

to these questions also

[seemslikeadream]

11. 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions on C-SPAN

Did you see this G_j?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3555304&mesg_id=3555304

On Saturday, April 30 at 10:30 am

The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions
David Ray Griffiin
Description: David Ray Griffin takes a critical look at the official 9/11 Commission Report put out by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Professor Griffin argues that the "omissions and distortions" in the report amount to a cover-up by government officials and says that the available evidence suggests that the Bush administration was complicit in the 9/11 attacks (either by ignoring known threats or through actual participation in the planning of the attacks). Professor Griffin asks a series of questions which he says have been either inadequately answered or completely ignored by the commission. These include questions surrounding the attack on the Pentagon, the way in which the World Trade Center towers collapsed, and the behavior of President Bush and his Secret Service detail following notification that a second plane had hit the WTC. The talk was hosted by the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth (www.mujca.com) and took place at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Includes Q&A.
http://www.booktv.org/General/index.asp?segID=5677&schedID=343

:woohoo:

Can be seen here also
http://www.911blogger.com/

Theologian calls for response to 9/11
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1406835

:hi:

[G_j]

12. wow, thanks

I hadn't heard of this. I'm glad you included a link for I don't have cable.
:hi:

[Tsiyu]

23. Cynthia McKinney is my hero

Rumsfield is a low life piece of shit who should be incarcerated for war crimes. McKinney should be asking him questions while he's wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.

But that would be in the Democracy that used to be America.

[slaveplanet]

24. who want's to bet

those missing trillions are from the pension and other funds? looted


just like the SS trust fund that they are being tight lipped about...
http://rense.com/general64/denial.htm

why is Rummy so hyper for a new budget when they won't account for the missing funds?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1428681


or could the 3 trillion in supposedly counterfeit FR notes found in the Phillipines have anything to do with it?
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=3274


Kudos to Mckinney for facing down the System Lords in their nest. That took great courage...you could see the contempt in Rummy's face

[seemslikeadream]

25. Such a coincidence 3 trillion here 3 trillion there

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1412609

FEDERAL BANK RESERVE CERTIFICATES

:shrug:

[slaveplanet]

26. well a little bird told me

those weren't all fakes ...only a portion of them

[seemslikeadream]

27. How often does one get caught in a situation like that?

You would think the story might have got a little more attention.

[G_j]

28. perhaps

it takes a 'coincidence theorist' to figure it out.
:think:

[Roland99]

29. Hmm...never heard of that before

[G_j]

30. "regarding the four wargames on September 11th.

I have not yet received that response,"