WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and his fellow freshman Democrats Wednesday proposed establishing an independent commission that would examine billions of dollars in waste and fraud in wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

''I come to you as a dirt farmer,'' Tester said. ''If I don't watch my bottom line, I go broke. Well this administration is breaking this government, with no accountability whatsoever. This bill allows us to do business in a different way. And it will be a way that's accountable.''

The nine senators want to create an eight-member, bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting that would exist for two years. It would investigate federal agency contracting for reconstruction, logistical troop support and security and intelligence functions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their proposal also would expand the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, allowing it to conduct audits of all support contracts to identify waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement. That temporary agency was created by Congress as a public watchdog of funds for Iraq reconstruction programs.

The contracting commission would assess whether those responsible for waste or fraud have been held financially and legally accountable, the senators said. It would also examine the policies and process for wartime contracts.

It would also study the extent and impact of the growing reliance on civilian contractors to perform wartime functions.

The director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency testified before Congress in February that there was more than $10 billion in questioned or unsupported costs relating to Iraq reconstruction and troop support contracts.

The senators had planned to attach the measure as an amendment to a defense authorization bill on the Senate floor. But after a rare all-night session, Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday pulled the bill from the floor. The Democrats had been unable to overcome a Republican's procedural maneuver requiring 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to pass a measure to begin bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq.

Tester said the contracting bill ought to pass unanimously but that he wouldn't be surprised if it too faced procedural hurdles.

''It's a good government bill, it brings accountability and oversight back to contracting in the military where I think that it's not arguable there's a tremendous amount of waste of taxpayer dollars,'' Tester said.

Tester said a ''total lack of oversight'' had led to the waste.

''What we heard about initially was Bechtel and Halliburton and those contracts,'' he said. ''Take a look at who was running those companies. It does not smell good at all. ... I think that there's some improprieties going on because there ought to be oversight in government spending.''

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said the commission would examine past contracts with the goal of getting some taxpayer money back. He said criminal charges could be brought as part of the investigations.

The senators noted that government accountability was an issue in all of their election campaigns. They said the commission would be modeled after one then-Sen. Harry Truman, who later became president, created to look at contracting during World War II.