KBR Under Pressure From Congress Over Allegations of Poisoning Soldiers

[babylonsister]

KBR Under Pressure From Congress Over Allegations of Poisoning Soldiers
Wednesday 29 September 2010
by: Mike Ludwig, t r u t h o u t | Report


Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) has introduced legislation that could spell trouble for military contractors such as Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR). (Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Sunil Garg, irisb477, cleanzor, Public Domain)


If a Congressman from Oregon has his way, then American taxpayers would not be expected to foot the legal bills for private military contractors like the former Halliburton subsidiary that allegedly allowed dozens of National Guard troops to be poisoned by a dangerous chemical in Iraq.

Legislation introduced to Congress by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) on Wednesday would require the military to notify Congress before accepting substantial legal liability on behalf of its contractors and prevent contractors guilty of gross negligence from winning new contracts.

The legislation could spell trouble for Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), the massive contractor that was secretly granted liability immunity as part of at least one wartime contract since 2001.

KBR has since split from Halliburton, its former parent company, and faces a list of lawsuits based on serious allegations, including poisoning soldiers with fumes from open burn pits in Iraq, allowing soldiers to be electrocuted in showers with faulty wiring, failing to protect female soldiers from sexual assault, participating in human trafficking, and the list goes on.

"KBR's repeated negligence has endangered our troops and cost lives," Blumenauer said. "Such a long record of alleged misconduct indicates to me that KBR did not fear being held responsible by anyone. Our war contracting process does too little to ensure that contractors act with the best interests of our troops and taxpayers in mind, and we're going to change that."

more...

http://www.truth-out.org/contractor-accused-poisoning-soldiers-faces-pressure-from-congress-again63671

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[w8liftinglady]

2. I hope this is successful...

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

:thumbsup:

[gratuitous]

4. Go Earl

My Congress Critter!