Americas Defense Meltdown - IT Acquisition Advisory Council

244 • Understand, Then Contain America’s Out-of-Control Defense BudgetPentagon. Beyond GAO and DOD IG reports, see also “Transforming Department of DefenseFinancial Management: A Strategy for Change,” April 13, 2001, a special report commissionedby the Secretary of Defense to review the situation.35 See Spinney testimony, p. 1.36 See “Congress, the Defense Budget, and Pork: A Snout to Tail Description of Congress’ ForemostConcern in National Security Legislation,” Winslow T. Wheeler, Independent Institute PolicyReport. Copies are available from the author at winslowwheeler@msn.com.37 Important elements of this section are borrowed from Chuck Spinney’s thinking in his statementto Congress in 2002. See statement by Franklin C. Spinney before the Subcommittee onNational Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations of the Committee on GovernmentReform, House of Representatives, June 4, 2002. Also available at http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/spinney_testimony_060402.htm.38 Important elements of this section are also borrowed from Chuck Spinney’s work. See statementby Franklin C. Spinney before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs andInternational Relations of the Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives,June 4, 2002. Also available at http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/spinney_testimony_060402.htm. Alsosee, “Defense Power Games,” Franklyn C. Spinney, Fund for Constitutional Government, 1990;available at http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/def_power_games_98.htm.39 For a discussion of the negative record of many such panels, see Chapter 1 of “Military Reform:A Reference Handbook,” Winslow T. Wheeler and Lawrence J. Korb, Praeger Security International,2007.40 For a discussion of this author’s proposed reforms for restoring oversight on Capitol Hill, see“The Wastrels of Defense,” U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2004.