POGO Urges Congress to Restore Funding for Equipment Being Used in Iraq War

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is urging Congress to remove language from pending legislation that would end funding for night vision goggles and other individual equipment U.S. troops are using in the Iraq War.

In a letter to Congress sent on Friday, POGO pointed out that the pending emergency spending bill, called Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (H.R. 4939), includes a provision that would cut out funding for night vision goggles, upgrades to light-armored vehicles, and other equipment vitally important for Marines fighting on the ground in Iraq, and transfers those funds to a program to acquire three MV-22 Osprey aircraft.

The Osprey has experienced numerous technical problems and is not being used in the Iraq War—in part because the aircraft is not approved for use in high-risk environments.