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Without results, IED group may lose funds

Key lawmakers have warned they will cut off funding for an organization that is supposed to be finding a way to defeat improvised explosive devices unless it can begin to show more results.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, created in 2004, is charged with pulling together the expertise and resources of the military services, private sector and allies to find ways of defending U.S. forces from roadside bombs and other improvised bombs that have proven especially deadly to deployed forces. The organization, which reports to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, has its own budget and funds specific initiatives, including devices to counter IEDs.

Christine DeVries, a JIEDDO spokeswoman, said the criticism is hard to understand because quarterly progress reports are provided to Congress, along with weekly briefings about how money is being spent. The organization is committed to working with Congress to fulfill its mission of better protecting the troops, she said.

Congressional negotiators working on the 2007 wartime supplemental appropriations bill approved $2.4 billion more for the organization, exactly what the Pentagon had requested, but included a caution in their report accompanying the bill that they want to see better results. The organization has already received more than $6 billion in funding since it was created in late 2004.

The report lists several concerns by lawmakers who were part of the conference committee that prepared the compromise bill.

First, lawmakers said they “remain concerned with the organization’s financial management practices, including its continued failure to provide a plan for obligation and expenditures for previously approved and for currently requested funding.”

Second, they expressed concern that “the organization is not effectively managing its resources to deliver effective counter-IED solutions to theater.”

Third, the report says negotiators are worried about “JIEDDO’s inability to provide timely and detailed responses to the congressional defense committee’s inquiries for specific information regarding its budget request.”

The concerns come with a warning: “The conferees will be hard-pressed to fully fund future budget requests unless the JIEDDO improves its financial management practices and its responsiveness.”