WASHINGTON: House Democrats targeted a multibillion-dollar overseas contracting loophole Friday by vowing to investigate why — and how — it was slipped into plans to crack down on fraud in taxpayer-funded projects.
The inquiry will look at whether the exemption was added at the request of private firms, or their lobbyists, to escape having to report abuse in U.S. contracts performed abroad.
"Granting this safe harbor for overseas contractors flies in the face of reason," Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., wrote Friday asking the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to investigate. The panel monitors government procurement policy.
"By taking this action, the Bush administration is sending an unambiguous message: If you are a U.S. government contractor in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere overseas, you have a green light to defraud our government and waste taxpayer dollars," Welch wrote to Democratic leaders of the committee.
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A spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, which reviews contracts policy, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the investigation.
The White House has declined to say whether the loophole, first reported last month by The Associated Press, will remain in the plans when they are finalized later this year. The government spends an estimated $350 billion a year on contracts.
The inquiry comes amid bipartisan criticism in Congress and by Bush administration inspectors general who fear the exemption will undercut government efforts to curb waste, fraud and abuse in contracts.
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