II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1428 

To phase out the use of private military contractors. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2011 

Mr. SANDERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To phase out the use of private military contractors. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Outsourcing Se5 curity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States Government is increas9 ingly relying on armed private security contractors 

10 to perform mission-critical and emergency essential 

11 functions that historically have been performed by 

12 United States military or Government personnel. 


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1 (2) As of March 2011, the Department of De2 fense had approximately 155,000 contract employees 

3 operating in Iraq and Afghanistan, as compared to 

4 145,000 members of the United States Armed 

5 Forces operating in these two theaters of war. 

6 (3) As of March 2011, the Department of De7 fense had deployed 9,207 armed private security 

8 contractors in Iraq and 18,971 in Afghanistan, a 

9 change from 10,743 and 4,111, respectively, in 

10 March 2009. 

11 (4) As of April 1, 2011, the Department of 

12 State had over 2,500 security contractors in Iraq 

13 and 1,272 in Afghanistan, under the Worldwide Per14 sonal Protective Services (WPPS) contract. 

15 (5) In September 2009, photos were published 

16 showing employees of ArmorGroup North America 

17 (AGNA), hired by the Department of State to pro18 vide security at the United States Embassy in 

19 Kabul, engaging in lewd sexual hazing and harass20 ment. 

21 (6) Before the September 2009 incident, the 

22 Department of State had issued multiple deficiency 

23 notices, a cure notice, and a show-cause notice ex24 pressing grave concerns about the company’s per25 formance on the contract; one Department of State 


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1 official even wrote that the company’s deficiencies 

2 ‘‘endanger performance of the contract to such a de3 gree that the security of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul 

4 is in jeopardy’’. 

5 (7) On July 7, 2011, the Department of Justice 

6 announced that Armor Group North America paid a 

7 $7,500,000 settlement to resolve charges that the 

8 company submitted false claims for payment on a 

9 Department of State contract; the settlement re10 solves claims that AGNA guards violated the Traf11 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

12 7101 et seq.) by visiting brothels in Kabul with the 

13 knowledge of AGNA’s management, as well as alle14 gations that AGNA misrepresented the prior work 

15 experience of 38 third country nationals hired to 

16 guard the embassy. 

17 (8) A 2010 investigation by the Committee on 

18 Armed Services of the Senate found that EOD 

19 Technology, the company hired to take over protec20 tion of the Kabul Embassy from AGNA, was sus21 pected of hiring local warlords with possible Taliban 

22 ties, and in March 2011, the EODT contract was 

23 terminated for default. 

24 (9) In May 2009, four men employed as mili25 tary trainers for Paravant LLC, a Blackwater affilVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:05 Jul 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1428.IS S1428

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1 iate, fired on a civilian vehicle in Kabul, killing one 

2 Afghan and wounding two others; two of the guards 

3 were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 

4 March 2011. 

5 (10) On September 16, 2007, individuals hired 

6 by the company then known as Blackwater USA 

7 opened fire on Baghdad’s Nisour Square, killing 17 

8 Iraqis and wounding at least 20 others. 

9 (11) In August 2010, XE Services, LLC, the 

10 company formerly known as Blackwater, entered 

11 into a civil settlement with the Department of State, 

12 under which the company agreed to pay a penalty of 

13 $42,000,000 for 288 alleged violations of the Arms 

14 Export Control Act (AECA) (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 

15 seq.) and the International Traffic in Arms Regula16 tions (ITAR) (22 C.F.R. 120.1 et seq.). 

17 (12) In July 2010, The Washington Post 

18 quoted Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as saying, 

19 ‘‘This is a terrible confession . . . I can’t get a num20 ber on how many contractors work for the Office of 

21 the Secretary of Defense.’’ 

22 (13) On October 18, 2007, Secretary Gates 

23 stated that the work of many contractors in Iraq is 

24 ‘‘at cross-purposes to our larger mission in Iraq,’’ 

25 and that ‘‘right now those missions are in conflict’’. 


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1 (14) In 2007, the Committee on Oversight and 

2 Government Reform of the House of Representatives 

3 investigated Blackwater’s employment practices and 

4 found that the company’s classification of its secu5 rity guards may have allowed the firm to avoid pay6 ing Social Security, Medicare, and Federal income 

7 and employment taxes. 

8 (15) On Christmas Eve 2006, Blackwater con9 tractor Andrew Moonen, while drunk, shot and killed 

10 a guard to Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd-al-Mahdi 

11 in the Green Zone, and though Mr. Moonen lost his 

12 job with Blackwater as a result of this incident, he 

13 was promptly hired by Combat Support Associates, 

14 another Department of Defense contractor, and sent 

15 to work in Kuwait. 

16 (16) In the wake of the 2004 killing of four 

17 Blackwater contractors in Fallujah, the families of 

18 the men killed filed a civil suit against the company, 

19 alleging that Blackwater failed to properly equip and 

20 man its armored vehicles; after nearly seven years in 

21 court, the case was thrown out when the families 

22 could reportedly no longer pay the court costs. 

23 (17) Xe Services, LLC, the company formerly 

24 known as Blackwater, has also faced allegations of 

25 weapons smuggling and improperly licensing fireVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:05 Jul 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1428.IS S1428

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1 arms; in April 2010, five former Blackwater employ2 ees, including former president Gary Jackson, were 

3 indicted on charges including conspiring to violate 

4 Federal firearm laws, possession of unregistered fire5 arms, and obstruction of justice. 

6 (18) In response to a request from the Com7 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

8 House of Representatives, the Inspector General of 

9 the Small Business Administration investigated 

10 Blackwater in 2008 and found that the company 

11 may have misrepresented its small business status, 

12 enabling it to qualify for $110,000,000 in govern13 ment contracts set aside specifically for small busi14 nesses. 

15 (19) Signed affidavits were filed in a civil law16 suit against Blackwater that company founder Erik 

17 Prince views himself ‘‘as a Christian crusader tasked 

18 with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from 

19 the globe’’, that he knowingly deployed ‘‘demon20 strably unfit men’’ to Iraq, and that he used illegal 

21 ammunition, including a bullet designed to explode 

22 after entering the human body, among other 

23 charges. 

24 (20) In November 2007, a contractor employed 

25 by DynCorp International, LLC, reportedly shot and 


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1 killed an unarmed taxi driver who, according to wit2 nesses, posed no threat to the DynCorp convoy. 

3 (21) A January 2007 report by the Special In4 spector General for Iraq Reconstruction stated that 

5 DynCorp billed the United States for millions of dol6 lars of work that was never authorized. 

7 (22) In October 2007, an audit report issued by 

8 the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruc9 tion stated that the Department of State ‘‘does not 

10 know specifically what it received for most of the 

11 $1,200,000,000 in expenditures under its DynCorp 

12 Contract for the Iraqi Police Training Program’’. 

13 (23) Congress does not have complete access to 

14 information about all security contracts, the number 

15 of armed private security contractors working in 

16 Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat zones, the 

17 number of contractors who have died, and any dis18 ciplinary actions taken against contract personnel or 

19 companies. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) MISSION CRITICAL OR EMERGENCY ESSEN23 TIAL FUNCTIONS.—The term ‘‘mission critical or 

24 emergency essential functions’’— 

25 (A) means— 


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1 (i) activities for which continued per2 formance is considered essential to support 

3 combat systems and operational activities; 

4 or 

5 (ii) activities the delay, absence, or 

6 failure of performance of which would sig7 nificantly affect the broader success or fail8 ure of a military operation; and 

9 (B) includes— 

10 (i) the provision of protective services, 

11 including diplomatic security services; 

12 (ii) the provision of security advice 

13 and planning; 

14 (iii) military and police training; 

15 (iv) prison administration; 

16 (v) interrogation; and 

17 (vi) intelligence. 

18 (2) CONTINGENCY OPERATION.—The term 

19 ‘‘contingency operation’’ has the meaning given the 

20 term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States 

21 Code. 

22 (3) OTHER SIGNIFICANT MILITARY OPER23 ATIONS.—The term ‘‘other significant military oper24 ations’’ means activities, other than combat oper25 ations, that are carried out by United States Armed 


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1 Forces in an uncontrolled or unpredictable high2 threat environment where personnel performing se3 curity functions may be called upon to use deadly 

4 force. 

5 (4) SPECIFIED CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘specified congressional commit7 tees’’ means the following committees: 

8 (A) The Committee on Armed Services, the 

9 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern10 mental Affairs, the Committee on Appropria11 tions, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and 

12 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

13 Senate. 

14 (B) The Committee on Armed Services, 

15 the Committee on Oversight and Government 

16 Reform, the Committee on Appropriations, the 

17 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Perma18 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL TO 

21 PERFORM DIPLOMATIC SECURITY IN AREAS 

22 OF CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS AND OTHER 

23 SIGNIFICANT MILITARY OPERATIONS. 

24 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact25 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall ensure that 


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1 all personnel working on behalf of the United States at 

2 any United States diplomatic or consular mission in areas 

3 of contingency operations and other significant military 

4 operations are provided diplomatic security services only 

5 by United States Government personnel. 

6 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CONTRACTORS PER7 FORMING MISSION CRITICAL OR EMERGENCY 

8 ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS IN ALL AREAS OF 

9 CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS AND OTHER SIG10 NIFICANT MILITARY OPERATIONS. 

11 (a) REPORT BY PRESIDENT.— 

12 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than June 1, 

13 2012, the President shall submit to the specified 

14 congressional committees a report on the status of 

15 planning for the transition away from the use of pri16 vate contractors for mission critical or emergency es17 sential functions by January 1, 2013, in all areas of 

18 contingency operations and other significant military 

19 operations. 

20 (2) ADDITIONAL MATTERS COVERED.—If the 

21 report submitted under paragraph (1) states that 

22 the relevant agencies will not be able to transition to 

23 government and military personnel for such func24 tions by January 1, 2013, the President shall in25 clude in the report the following: 


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1 (A) A statement of the reasons why the 

2 relevant agencies are unable to do so, the date 

3 by which they will be able to do so, and the 

4 plan to ensure that they will be able to do so 

5 by that date. 

6 (B) A certification that— 

7 (i) all contract employees have under8 gone background checks to ensure that 

9 they do not have criminal records and have 

10 not been accused of human rights abuses; 

11 (ii) no contract employees are subject 

12 to pending criminal charges; 

13 (iii) all contract employees are under 

14 the jurisdiction of section 3261 of title 18, 

15 United States Code (relating to military 

16 extraterritorial jurisdiction); 

17 (iv) contract employees, if accused of 

18 crimes by the host country, must remain in 

19 United States custody; and 

20 (v) contracts include whistleblower 

21 protections for employees to provide good 

22 faith information to management, govern23 ment agencies, and Congress of any con24 tract violations, human rights abuses, or 

25 criminal actions. 


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1 (3) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by 

2 this subsection shall be submitted in unclassified 

3 form, to the maximum extent possible, but may con4 tain a classified annex, if necessary. 

5 (b) EXAMINATION OF CONTRACTOR ACCOUNTING

6 PRACTICES.—Any individual or entity under contract with 

7 the Federal Government to provide mission critical or 

8 emergency essential functions after January 1, 2013, shall 

9 allow the specified congressional committees to examine 

10 their accounting practices with respect to any such con11 tract quarterly and upon request. 

12 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CONTRACT RE13 NEWALS.—Any contract with the Federal Government re14 quiring personnel to perform mission critical or emergency 

15 essential functions that is proposed to be renewed after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act may be renewed only 

17 if— 

18 (1) the President reports to the specified con19 gressional committees that the relevant agency does 

20 not have adequate personnel to perform the duties 

21 stipulated in the contract; and 

22 (2) the President certifies that— 

23 (A) all contract employees have undergone 

24 background checks to ensure that they do not 


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1 have criminal records and have not been ac2 cused of human rights abuses; 

3 (B) no contract employees are subject to 

4 pending criminal charges; 

5 (C) all contract employees are under the 

6 jurisdiction of section 3261 of title 18, United 

7 States Code (relating to military extraterritorial 

8 jurisdiction); 

9 (D) contract employees, if accused of 

10 crimes by the host country, must remain in the 

11 custody of the United States; and 

12 (E) the contract includes whistleblower 

13 protections for employees to provide good faith 

14 information to management, government agen15 cies, and Congress of any contract violations, 

16 human rights abuses, or criminal actions. 

17 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL ACCESS TO CONTRACTS. 

18 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW CONGRESS ACCESS TO

19 COPIES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF CERTAIN CONTRACTS AND

20 TASK ORDERS.— 

21 (1) REQUIREMENT REGARDING CONTRACTS

22 AND TASK ORDERS BEFORE ENACTMENT.—The Sec23 retary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Sec24 retary of the Interior, and the Administrator of the 

25 United States Agency for International Development 


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1 shall allow the chairman and the ranking minority 

2 member of each specified congressional committee 

3 access to a copy of, and a description of the work 

4 performed or to be performed under, each contract, 

5 and each task order issued under an existing con6 tract, in an amount greater than $5,000,000 entered 

7 into by the Department of Defense, the Department 

8 of State, the Department of the Interior, and the 

9 United States Agency for International Develop10 ment, respectively, during the period beginning on 

11 October 1, 2001, and ending on the last day of the 

12 month during which this Act is enacted for work to 

13 be performed in areas of contingency operations and 

14 other significant military operations. 

15 (2) FORM OF SUBMISSIONS.—The copies and 

16 descriptions required by paragraph (1) shall be sub17 mitted in unclassified form, to the maximum extent 

18 possible, but may contain a classified annex, if nec19 essary. 

20 (b) REPORTS ON CONTRACTS FOR WORK TO BE

21 PERFORMED IN AREAS OF CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS

22 AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT MILITARY OPERATIONS.—The 

23 Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

24 of the Interior, and the Administrator of the United States 

25 Agency for International Development shall each submit 


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1 to each specified congressional committee a report not 

2 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act that contains the following information: 

4 (1) The number of persons performing work in 

5 areas of contingency operations and other significant 

6 military operations under contracts (and sub7 contracts at any tier) entered into by Department of 

8 Defense, the Department of State, the Department 

9 of the Interior, and the United States Agency for 

10 International Development, respectively. 

11 (2) The total cost of such contracts. 

12 (3) The total number of persons who have been 

13 wounded or killed in performing work under such 

14 contracts. 

15 (4) A description of the disciplinary actions 

16 that have been taken against persons performing 

17 work under such contracts by the contractor, the 

18 United States Government, or the government of 

19 any country in which the area of contingency oper20 ations or other significant military operations is lo21 cated. 

Æ 


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