Congress to Pass Obama, Coburn Legislation to Prevent Abuse of No-Bid Contracts in Wake of a Disaster
Friday, September 29, 2006
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Coburn Contact: John Hart, (202) 228-5357
Date: September 29, 2006
Congress to Pass Obama, Coburn Legislation to Prevent Abuse of No-Bid Contracts in Wake of a Disaster
Legislation Offered in Response to Contracting Abuses in Post-Katrina Gulf Coast Reconstruction Efforts
WASHINGTON - Legislation authored by U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) that will stop the abuse of no-bid contracting in the aftermath of a disaster was included in the final Department of Homeland Security funding bill likely to pass the Senate today. After Senate passage, the bill will go to the President's desk to be signed into law.
"Congress has finally come to realize what the American people have known all along - that in the wake of a disaster, our resources should go to help those in need, not wealthy contractors," Obama and Coburn said. "We have a long way to go before we rebuild the American people's faith in government, but putting an end to no-bid contracts is an important start."
After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency used emergency authority to enter into open-ended, no-bid contracts. What was meant to be temporary stop-gap authority ballooned into wasteful contracts that lasted many months and wasted significant federal resources. Obama and Coburn legislation will stop this practice by restricting the use of emergency contracting authority only to urgent needs in the immediate response to emergencies.
On three separate occasions, Obama and Coburn have passed legislation in the Senate that would end no-bid contracting with Gulf Coast reconstruction funds. Legislation that would have specifically prohibited no-bid contracts with Gulf Coast reconstruction was stripped from a previously passed funding bill.