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Bill would outlaw 'parking' Pentagon funds
By PAUL DE LA GARZA
Published May 5, 2006
TAMPA - In response to an investigation at Special Operations Command, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson introduced legislation Thursday that would make it illegal for the Pentagon to fund projects without congressional approval.
In a report released Monday, investigators cleared SOCom of allegations that it hid $20-million from Congress in the 2003 budget at the direction of the Pentagon comptroller. The investigation was prompted by an anonymous tip that included an e-mail from then-SOCom comptroller Elaine Kingston to staff.
In the e-mail, dated Feb. 11, 2002, Kingston said she had received a call from the Pentagon comptroller asking if she could "park" $40-million in SOCom accounts at MacDill Air Force Base.
Kingston wrote that the Pentagon needed an answer in five minutes because the agency where the money was could not do it.
Kingston coached colleagues on how to account for the additional money and avoid attracting attention to it in congressional briefings.
The audit division of the inspector general found that the Pentagon merely was asking SOCom if it could use a budget boost. A separate criminal inquiry also cleared SOCom.
Nelson, the Florida Democrat who sits on the Armed Services Committee, thinks the Pentagon hid money from Congress and set up a "slush fund."
He introduced legislation that would prohibit the Pentagon "from directing the allocation of funds in the President's budget ... with the knowledge or intent that the funds would not be used for which they are allocated."
[Last modified May 5, 2006, 02:30:26]
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