Price bill headed to House floor

U.S. Rep. David Price’s bill on prosecuting private security contractors is scheduled to hit the House floor this week, possibly as soon as Tuesday. That happens to be the same day Blackwater USA president Erik Prince has been asked to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Price’s staff is working long hours, putting together background papers and trying to anticipate potential arguments from opponents to his bill, reports Barb Barrett.

Amendments to the bill are supposed to be filed with the House by the end of today, then the Rules Committee will decide which will be allowed.

The bill would bring private security contractors operating in “contingency operations,” such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, under the federal criminal code. That means any contractors suspected of committing crimes could be investigated and prosecuted under U.S. law.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, has been working on the bill for months, but it gained new attention in the past two weeks when Iraq threatened to take the operating license of Blackwater, a Moyock-based company. Blackwater employees killed at least 11 Iraqis last month while protecting a convoy for the U.S. Department of State in Baghdad.