Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Two United States senators are beside themselves since discovering that the Defense Department has not bothered to collect $100 million from a former subsidiary of Halliburton that excessively billed the US government—and has continued to reward the company with more lucrative contracts. Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Susan Collins (R-ME) fired off a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates demanding answers as to why KBR, formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root when it was owned by Halliburton, has not paid the federal government the money it owes, even though corporate officials admitted to taking bribes from subcontractors who overcharged the Pentagon.
To make matters worse, McCaskill and Collins learned that the Army Sustainment Command is still awarding contracts to KBR, which once had a virtual monopoly over logistics operations in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, earning more than $31 billion. An Army spokesman insisted that Fluor and Dyncorp have received some work in Afghanistan and Kuwait, and that the Army is working on awarding new contracts for work in Iraq.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Senators Accuse Pentagon of Delay in Recovering Millions (by James Glanz, New York Times)
Comments