Kerry Calls for Reviews of Disaster Recovery Contracting Practices

[Judi Lynn]

Kerry Calls for Reviews of Disaster Recovery Contracting Practices
18 minutes ago

WASHINGTON, March 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) called on major federal agencies awarding contracts after disasters to issue and enforce contracting plans to ensure small firms and disadvantaged businesses receive their fair share of contracts. A Government Accountability Report released today found that there needs to be better transparency and enforcement at agencies responsible for 94 percent of federal disaster recovery contracts after Hurricane Katrina. Those agencies are the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).


"All the presidential photo opportunities in the world haven't resulted in more small and local business participation in rebuilding communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina," said Kerry, chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. "This GAO report reveals a severe gap in the information we need to ensure small businesses are afforded every opportunity to win contracts and help recover after a disaster. We need more information and better oversight to ensure the government is following the law."
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070301/pl_usnw/kerry_calls_for_reviews_of_disaster_recovery_contracting_practices;_ylt=A0SOwlAlZOdFJCkAtiyyFz4D

[Unbowed]

1. This Kerry fellow certainly gets around.

He doesn't stop fighting for what's right, does he? And he isn't shy about showing his contempt for Bush either.

"presidential photo opportunities"

:)

[ginnyinWI]

6. Kerry makes a point of calling them on their crap.

He likes to make statements slapping down the hypocrisy he sees in the WH. Maybe that's why he continues to be attacked in the media--he's a threat.

[karynnj]

2. He and Snowe have been on this since Katrina

BOTH of them really grilled the former head of SBA in several hearings because the Bush people were so awful

[struggle4progress]

3. Investigators: Large Katrina contractors bending the rules

09:14 PM CST on Thursday, March 1, 2007

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Large businesses awarded million-dollar government contracts for Hurricane Katrina cleanup are bending or exploiting rules aimed at helping small companies share the work, congressional investigators said Thursday.

The report by the Government Accountability Office focused on small Gulf Coast businesses that lost opportunities as limited-bid contracts were awarded to politically connected companies after the storm hit on Aug. 29, 2005.

Large contractors routinely did not file reports explaining their efforts to find subcontractors, as required under federal rules, according to investigators. At other times, large companies provided figures that complied with the rules but were misleading as to how much work they were sharing.

Because of the widespread problems, investigators could not offer any assurance the large companies were making "good-faith efforts to meet their small business subcontracting goals," the report said ...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/030207dntswcontractors.2eee152.html

[rodeodance]

4. tis the little guy at the bottom AGAIN.

[salin]

5. Thank you Senator Kerry.

This must happen.

Nice timing, as well (given the shrub's NOLA visit.)