WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. House Armed Services Committee has reported a bill to rein in sole-source contracts like that awarded to Halliburton at the start of the Iraq war.
The "Accountability in Contracting Act" would limit the length of contracts that are awarded without competitive bidding and directs agencies to maximize the use of fixed-price contracts, rather contracts that pay costs plus a profit margin.
It would require agencies to post the justification for sole-source contract awards to be posted on their web sites and for the contracts to be audited for fairness in pricing and job performance.
Vice President Dick Cheney headed the Halliburton Co. for five years prior to becoming vice president. In 2003 Halliburton subsidiary KBR was awarded a massive $16 billion-plus contract for logistical and quality of life services in Iraq, the largest of its kind. It was also given a secret contract to restore Iraq's oil infrastructure worth up to $7 billion at the same time.
In an apparent reaction to the 2004 jail term of a former Air Force acquisition executive, the House bill would also clarify that government procurement officials have restrictions in the jobs they can seek with the industries they dealt with for a period of time after leaving government service. The prohibited list includes lobbying and legal work.
Procurement officials have to report and possibly recuse themselves from contract negotiations with companies that employ relatives or for which they formerly worked themselves.
In 2004 Darleen Druyun pleaded guilty to fraud and favoring deals with Boeing from which she was seeking employment for herself and for family members over the course of several years. She admitted that among other things she negotiated a lease for aircraft from Boeing at a higher price to the government than was supported by cost data. She also gave Boeing a $100 million contract in 2002, also an inflated amount.
