WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- U.S. Department of Defense officials say they have no immediate information about more than $112 billion in contractor payments in their budget request.
The figure in the 2008 request is described simply as being for "other" contracts, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc., at a March 29 hearing.
The amount is slightly less than a quarter of the Pentagon's entire budget -- "a pretty big 'other'," according to Obey, whose remarks were first reported by Congressional Quarterly.
Obey asked Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas for examples of what "other" might include, but she declined to provide any, saying she would follow up on the question.
Jonas told the hearing that spending on Defense Department contracts grew from $133 billion in fiscal 2000 to $258 billion in fiscal 2005, and then to $295 billion last year.
The Iraq War has driven much of the growth in Pentagon contracting, according to government auditors, reported CQ.
Lawmakers suggested that there were as many as 126,000 contractors working for the military in Iraq, a figure that CQ said not contested by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also testified at the hearing.
By comparison, just 9,200 contractors supported the military during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, CQ reported.
