WASHINGTON, May 17 (UPI) -- Lawmakers plan to question U.S. homeland security officials about their contract with a local transportation company at a Thursday hearing.
Members of the House Committee on Homeland Security from both parties have said that the contract, with Alexandria, Va.-based Shirlington Limousine and Taxi, raises procurement and security issues.
The contract -- under which the company provides 10 shuttle buses to ferry employees between the department's many Washington facilities and drivers for senior officials' sedans -- came into the spotlight last month after media reports surfaced that Shirlington was under scrutiny as part of a congressional bribery probe.
The company's owner, Christopher Baker, reportedly has a criminal record and a troubled financial history.
But Department of Homeland Security officials have been pushing back, visiting with lawmakers on the Hill to lay out the facts and assuage concerns, according to department spokesman Russ Knocke.
"Sometimes the facts are not made entirely clear in news accounts," Knocke told United Press International.
According to briefings given lawmakers, the cars and shuttle buses are all kept secured at department headquarters overnight, and Shirlington's operations there are overseen by a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Secret Service who inspects the vehicles every evening.
All drivers for the senior officials' sedans are subjected to full background investigations and criminal record checks as though they were being assessed for a security clearance.
"There are no security concerns whatsoever," said Knocke.
