Auditors pledge to investigate Katrina contracts
No-bid pacts will undergo scrutiny, House panel to be told
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Posted: 4:38 a.m. EDT (08:38 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/28/congress.katrina.ap/index.htmlWASHINGTON (AP) -- A day after castigating the federal government's ousted disaster chief, a House panel will hear pledges from government auditors that they will closely examine millions of dollars in contracts the Bush administration awarded to politically connected companies for Hurricane Katrina relief.
The inspectors general from half a dozen agencies, as well as officials from the Government Accountability Office, on Wednesday were addressing a House subcommittee on the Katrina cleanup and announcing several new audits to combat waste and fraud.
They are pledging strong oversight that includes a review of no-bid contracts and close scrutiny of federal employees who now enjoy a $250,000 -- rather than a $2,500 -- purchase limit for Katrina-related expenses on their government-issued credit cards.
"When so much money is available, it draws people of less than perfect character," H. Walker Feaster, inspector general of the Federal Communications Commission, said. "It underscores the need for internal controls of the money going out."