Homeland Security using 1,000 more rounds per person than Army

[R. LaCasse]

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Date: Sun, April 28, 2013 11:00 am
From: "Dennis R. Young"
Subject: Homeland Security using 1,000 more rounds per person than Army

Reps challenge DHS ammo buys, say agency using 1,000 more rounds per person
than Army
Published April 26, 2013 - FoxNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/26/reps-challenge-dhs-ammo-buys-say-agency-using-1000-more-rounds-per-person-than/

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Thursday that the Department of Homeland
Security is using roughly 1,000 rounds of ammunition more per person than
the U.S. Army, as he and other lawmakers sharply questioned DHS officials on
their "massive" bullet buys. "It is entirely ... inexplicable why the
Department of Homeland Security needs so much ammunition," Chaffetz, R-Utah,
said at a hearing.
The hearing itself was unusual, as questions about the department's
ammunition purchases until recently had bubbled largely under the radar --
on blogs and in the occasional news article. But as the Department of
Homeland Security found itself publicly defending the purchases, lawmakers
gradually showed more interest in the issue.

Democratic Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., at the opening of the hearing,
ridiculed the concerns as "conspiracy theories" which have "no place" in the
committee room. But Republicans said the purchases raise "serious"
questions about waste and accountability. Chaffetz, who chairs one of the
House oversight subcommittees holding the hearing Thursday, revealed that
the department currently has more than 260 million rounds in stock. He said
the department bought more than 103 million rounds in 2012 and used 116
million that same year -- among roughly 70,000 agents.
Comparing that with the small-arms purchases procured by the U.S. Army, he
said the DHS is churning through between 1,300 and 1,600 rounds per officer,
while the U.S. Army goes through roughly 350 rounds per soldier. He noted
that is "roughly 1,000 rounds more per person."

"Their officers use what seems to be an exorbitant amount of ammunition," he
said. Nick Nayak, chief procurement officer for the Department of Homeland
Security, did not challenge Chaffetz's numbers. ,However, Nayak sought to
counter what he described as several misconceptions about the bullet buys.
Despite reports that the department was trying to buy up to 1.6 billion
rounds over five years, he said that is not true. He later clarified that
the number is closer to 750 million. He said the department, on average,
buys roughly 100 million rounds per year.

He also said claims that the department is stockpiling ammo are "simply not
true." Further, he countered claims that the purchases are helping create
broader ammunition shortages in the U.S. The department has long said it
needs the bullets for agents in training and on duty, and buys in bulk to
save money. While Democrats likened concerns about the purchases to
conspiracy theories, Republicans raised concern about the sheer cost of the
ammunition. "This is not about conspiracy theories, this is about good
government," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.,
who chairs the full Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he
suspects rounds are being stockpiled, and then either "disposed of," passed
to non-federal agencies, or shot "indiscriminately."
If that is the case, he said, "then shame on you."

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