Democrats Pass Bipartisan Bill To Stop War Profiteering
KXMBhttp://democrats.org/blog.html
October 10, 2007
By a vote of 375-3, the House has passed the War Profiteering Prevention Act, H.R. 400. The bill makes war profiteering a felony. If this legislation becomes law, anyone found guilty of profiting excessively from military action or reconstruction may be subject to 20 years in prison and fines up to $1 millionor as much as twice the illegal profits of their crime.
Last week, the Democratic Congress also passed legislation that would bring all United States government contractors in the Iraq war zone under the jurisdiction of American criminal law. The measure would require the F.B.I. to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.
Both bills are spurred by the ongoing investigation of Blackwater USA. A private mercenary firm that operates in Iraq, Blackwater is under investigation for a September 16 incident in which as many as 17 Iraqi civilians may have been killed. Following the incident, the Iraqi government expelled Blackwater from the country.