Freshman Rep. Chris Murphy finally managed to turn his "Blackwater Bill" into a law that will require companies and non-profits that get most of their revenues from the government to disclose their senior officers and how much those people get paid.
"My bill seeks one simple thing – transparency. If there are people out there making millions off of government contracts, profiting off of this war, we should know about it," said Murphy.
After trying various methods of pushing his bill through Congress, Murphy managed to link it to the Iraq and Afghanistan war funding that President Bush signed today. This is Murphy's first law that stems from a bill he authored and introduced. The idea of the law is to shed light on the compensation of people running companies reliant on government contracts, and it stems from congressional frustration over an episode in which the chief of the Blackwater security firm wouldn't disclose salary information, even though his company relies on U.S. government work. Because it and similar companies become quasi-governmental organizations, Murphy argued, people should know how much profit they are bringing in for their executives. The law effects organizations making more than $25 million a year and at least 80 percent of it from government sources. The salary information for each organization's top five officials will be posted online at www.usaspending.gov.
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