» Senate & House Committee Hearings Ms Sparky

Lawmakers Secure Provision in NDAA to Bring Transparency to War Contracting Process

Posted on: December 16th, 2011 at 7:03 am — by Ms Sparky

Blumenauer, Wyden, Schrader, Merkley Secure Provision in NDAA to Bring Transparency to War Contracting Process

Thursday, 15 December 2011 17:57

Amendment A Legislative Response To Classified Immunity Deal For Contractor KBR That Exposed Oregon National Guardsmen To Toxic Chemicals In Iraq

WASHINGTON – Today, Congress sent a version of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 to President Obama that included an amendment championed by Oregon Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley bringing greater transparency to the war contracting process. The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to notify the Congressional defense committees when the Pentagon enters into indemnification agreements with contractors connected to U.S. military efforts abroad and explain why such a provision is necessary.

The legislative victory culminates a process that began during the last Congress to reform how the Pentagon does business with defense contractors. The push was sparked by the stories of 34 members of the Oregon National Guard who are suing KBR after exposure to the lethal carcinogen hexavalant chromium during their 2003 tour in Iraq while protecting the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Facility. The Qarmat Ali site, contracted to KBR for reconstruction, left Oregon troops with chronic medical problems.

The lawsuit revealed the existence of a classified indemnification clause in the KBR contract that could absolve the company from liability and shift the cost of unlimited damages, health costs and court fees onto the Department of Defense and, by extension, U.S. taxpayers. That contract was fully declassified this week as the Iraq war came to an official close. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Hearing: Oversight in Iraq and Afghanistan: Challenges and Solutions

Posted on: December 12th, 2011 at 3:58 am — by Forseti

Gov’t Investigators Testify on Iraq & Afghanistan Rebuilding

Witnesses:
The Honorable Gordon S. Heddell
Inspector General
U.S. Department of Defense
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

The Honorable Harold W. Geisel
Deputy Inspector General
U.S. Department of State
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

Mr. Michael G. Carroll
Acting Inspector General
U.S. Agency for International Development
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

Mr. Stuart W. Bowen
Inspector General
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

Mr. Steven J. Trent
Acting Inspector General
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(Click HERE for testimony PDF)

(C-Span) – Washington, DC – December 7, 2011 – A House Oversight subcommittee heard from the Inspectors General of the State Department, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development – as they try to decide whether to create a special Inspector General position to oversee just overseas contracting in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting, which was created by Congress in 2008, recently issued its final recommendations which included establishing the special IG position to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. (Click HERE for article)

Posted in Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC), GOV. CONTRACTORS, Reports & Investigations, Senate & House Committee Hearings. Tags: Commission on Wartime Contracting, DoD Contractors, DoD*, DoDIG*, DOS*, Gordon Heddell, Harold W. Geisel, Michael Carroll, SIGAR, SIGIR, Steven Trent, Stuart W. Bowen, USAID. 3 Comments »

IGs push for greater whistleblower protections for contractors

Posted on: December 7th, 2011 at 1:07 pm — by Forseti

Dr. Walter Tamosaitis, URS Corporation & Former Research & Technology Manager

Whistleblowers have saved taxpayers more than $27 billion since 1987 through the False Claims Act (FCA) award program. However, this program offers no protections to whistleblowers who witness waste, mismanagement and other illegalities, POGO Director of Public Policy Angela Canterbury will tell a Senate subcommittee today in a hearing. ~Dana Liebelson, POGO

Emily Kopp – (Federal News Radio) – December 7, 2011 – Walter Tamosaitis now works in a windowless basement office with two noisy copiers.It’s a far cry from his former job as the research and technology manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, a $13 billion Energy Department project in Washington state that, when completed, will be the biggest nuclear waste treatment plant in the world.

He is being punished for raising safety concerns about the plant’s construction, Tamosaitis told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight Tuesday.

“It’s a very visible example of what happens if you speak up,” he said.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Politics, Qui Tam, Senate & House Committee Hearings. Tags: Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, DoDIG*, False Claims Act, Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Marguerite Garrison, Peggy Gustafson, Senator Claire McCaskill*, URS Corp, URS/Washington Group, Walter Tamosaitis. No Comments »

McCaskill calls for greater accountability for contractors

Posted on: November 21st, 2011 at 2:46 pm — by Ms Sparky

Following new report from federal watchdog, Senator calls again for suspending federal work with bad contractors

Rocky is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary in Washington, DC

PoliticalNews.me – WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 17,2011 – Citing the case of a private contractor that was never held accountable for negligence in the death of a U.S. servicemember, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill used a Senate hearing to renew her call for the federal government to stop doing business with contractors responsible for wrongdoing.

McCaskill quizzed a panel of experts in a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing about how to strengthen accountability for private contractors by expanding the government’s use of suspension and debarment for bad contractors—something McCaskill has championed during her time in the Senate.

“Shouldn’t we just, as a matter of character of our nation, say that if you’re indicted like Halliburton was for bribery in Africa—if you’re indicted for criminal activity in connection with your government contracting activities—that you’re done with us,” asked McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight. “Shouldn’t we just make that a rule? Isn’t that a good standard for us to have?”

McCaskill specifically cited the case of Lieutenant Colonel Dominic “Rocky” Baragona, who was killed in Iraq in 2003 when his Humvee was struck by a supply truck driven by an employee of the contractor Kuwait Gulf & Link Transport Company (KGL). At the time of Baragona’s death, KGL was under contract with the U.S. Army to deliver supplies into Iraq.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in A Soldiers Story, GOV. CONTRACTORS, KLG Logistics, Reports & Investigations, Senate & House Committee Hearings. Tags: Commission on Wartime Contracting, DoD*, GAO, Halliburton, KGL Logistics, Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport, LTC Rocky Baragona, LTC Rocky Baragona Act, Senator Claire McCaskill*. 5 Comments »

Senate Investigates Counterfeit Parts in Military Equipment

Posted on: November 8th, 2011 at 6:56 am — by Forseti

Senator Carl Levin

Washington, DC - November 8, 2011 – A Senate Armed Services Committee investigation found over a million suspect parts in the Pentagon’s supply chain, mostly from China. Committee leaders say the counterfeit parts are a danger to U.S. troops and cost taxpayers.

Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and ranking Republican John McCain (R-AZ) gave several examples during a Monday news conference where the Defense Department had to replace faulty electronics at taxpayer expense. One was counterfeit transistors in a helicopter night vision system. In another instance a cockpit video display on an Air Force C-27J transport plane had bogus memory chips that could cause it to display the wrong information.

Testifying at a hearing today on the matter will be the head of the Missile Defense Agency, as well as officials from defense contracting companies Raytheon, L-3 Communications, and Boeing. Additional testimonies will include a government investigator and representatives of companies that distribute the potentially faulty components. (Click HERE for original article) (Click HERE for background Memo) (Click HERE for webcast of Hearing)

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Poor Contracting Oversight Supports Human Trafficking; Erodes U.S. “Moral Standing”

Posted on: November 2nd, 2011 at 1:31 pm — by Ms Sparky

Dana Liebelson – (POGO) – November 2, 2011 – U.S. taxpayers are inadvertently funding human trafficking and worker abuse because of the federal government’s poor oversight of contractors in war zones, POGO Director of Investigations Nick Schwellenbach told a Congressional panel today.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Hearing: Are Government Contractors Exploiting Workers Overseas? or Does the end justify the means? (updated 11-2-2011)

Posted on: October 31st, 2011 at 2:33 am — by Ms Sparky

Stack of "Get Away Guest House of Pattaya" business cards with former KBR manager Donald Vannoy's name on them

Witnesses
Panel I
Ms. Liana Wyler, Senior Analyst Congressional Research Service
Mr. David Isenberg, Independent Analyst and Writer
Mr. Nick Schwellenbach, Director of Investigations, Project on Government Oversight
Mr. Sam W. McCahon, Founder McCahon Law

Panel II
The Honorable Kenneth P. Moorefield, Deputy Inspector General for Special Plans & Operations U.S. Department of Defense
Mr. Michael P. Howard, Chief Operation Officer Army and Air Force Exchange Service
Ms. Evelyn R. Klemstine, Assistant Inspector General for Audits U.S. Department of State
Ms. Linda Dixon, Combating Trafficking in Persons Program Manager, U.S. Department of Defense

On Wednesday November 2, 2011 at 10:00 AM EDT, the Subcommittee on Technology, Intergovernment Relations and Procurement Reform will hold a hearing on US Government contractors who exploit foreign national workers at US facilities overseas. I hope Congress doesn’t think human trafficking is a new issue. I’ve been blogging about the exploitation of foreign national workers in Iraq and Afghanistan since I started this blog nearly four years ago.

The Trafficking in Persons (TIPs) of workers is a clear violation of the FAR and DFARS and therefore a violation of US law and many international laws as well . Yet, this most egregious crime against humanity goes mostly unchecked by many Defense Department, State Department and USAID contractors and their subcontractors. Why is that? Does the US Government feel the end justifies the means?

The US Government, in all their infinite wisdom (sarcasm), have adopted the philosophy it is more cost effective to award contracts to those who hire labor brokers to fill most labor positions in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. These labor brokers in turn go to destitute third world countries such as India, Nepal, Uganda and The Philippines to hire tens of thousands of both male and female workers. The recruits are promised the moon and charged a hefty recruiting fee for this “once in a lifetime” opportunity. Many recruits are blatantly lied to and have no idea they are heading to a war zone. Many know they are going to a war zone but end up in over crowded, unsanitary living conditions with far less pay than what they were promised. Some of these conditions are experienced on US Military installations, some in staging facilities outside the “wire” with little protection from the insurgency. (Read the rest of the story here…)