Congresswoman wants answers on KBR contract

[babylonsister]

Congresswoman wants answers on KBR contract

By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A New Hampshire congresswoman said the Pentagon has failed to justify giving a new, $35 million contract to a company whose electrical work on U.S. facilities in Iraq has been criticized as shoddy and unsafe.

At least three service members were electrocuted while showering at U.S. facilities in Iraq. Others have been injured or killed in electrical incidents.

Houston-based contractor KBR Inc., which maintains nearly all U.S. facilities in Iraq, has said it was not responsible for any of the deaths, and that safety is its top priority.

In a letter sent last month, Army Secretary Pete Geren told Rep. Carol Shea-Porter that KBR got the new contract because the Army Corps of Engineers felt KBR had performed well on other jobs. Geren also said KBR was the only contractor to submit a proposal, and was not on a government list of debarred companies.

"The office that is overseeing this work has the expertise required to monitor both the design and construction aspects of the project," Geren said in the letter, a copy of which was shared with The Associated Press.

"What do you have to do to get on that list? Why weren't they suspended?" Shea-Porter, a Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview this week. She is seeking more information on the contract decision.

"The issue here is we can't change what's happened," she said, "but we certainly have an obligation to these men and women who have suffered and their families to fix them and to make sure we don't hand another contract out to anyone or any company who had a hand in this."

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