Recent Congressional hearings have painted a dismal picture of military contractor Blackwater’s operations. Employees stole hundreds of weapons meant for the Afghan national police. They billed the U.S. government for a prostitute.

And then they created a shell company called “Paravant” so they could keep getting government contracts after they trashed the Blackwater name.

Blackwater is the poster child for everything that’s wrong with military contractors: They’ve killed civilians, they’ve stolen weapons, they’ve billed the U.S. government for a prostitute, and they’ve changed their name multiple times to they can keep getting contracts.

The actions of these hired killers creates an environment dangerous to our dedicated American soldiers. The use of mercenaries is grossly unpatriotic and wrong.

The Stop Outsourcing Security Act, introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the House (H.R. 4650) and Bernie Sanders in the Senate (S. 3023), would prohibit hiring private mercenaries like Blackwater to perform tasks traditionally done by the military.

We must stop giving contracts to businesses like Blackwater — and the only way to do it is to pass the Stop Outsourcing Security Act. Please join me in asking our elected officials to make this act a priority.

Patric Rogers, Auburn