WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- Twenty-one Democratic U.S. senators have called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to allow congressional auditors a permanent presence in Iraq.
"We are told the State Department has refused to grant (the Government Accountability Office) the access the agency needs to effectively monitor how reconstruction funding is being spent," saod a letter to Rice that was sent Monday and signed by 21 Democratic senators, led by Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
The Government Accountability Office is Congress' investigative arm and lawmakers rely on it "to monitor and report on U.S. efforts in Iraq" and the $280 million every day that U.S. taxpayers are spending there, the letter states.
"To help Congress better monitor the expenditure of these funds," the lawmakers write, the office "has been negotiating with the departments of State and Defense" to establish a "steady oversight presence in Baghdad" in the form of a team of three auditors, rotating every six months.
"We have recently been informed that the Department of Defense has approved (the Government Accountability Office's) request."
The letter is in response to a note from a State Department official, saying Foggy Bottom would approve only a two-week visit by the auditors, "although this will place considerable burden on embassy staff and resources."
