This is the weekly installment of a series highlighting the events and activities of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Week Ahead Alert: Hearings on Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
- Tuesday, February 6: The Impact of CPA Decision-Making on Iraq Reconstruction
- Wednesday, February 7: Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors
- Thursday, February 8: Management of Large Homeland Security Contracts: Deepwater and SBInet
- Friday, February 9: Allegations of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Pharmaceutical Pricing: Financial Impacts on Federal Health Programs and the Federal Taxpayer
All hearings scheduled to begin at 10:00 am, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building
Previous week: 01/22/07
I just got back from a trip, so this diary is going to be devoted only to the Hearings scheduled for this week. All of the hearings will be webcast from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee website. I'll get caught up on legislation and last week's Global Climate change hearings another time.
Upcoming Hearings
Tuesday, February 6 -- The Impact of CPA Decision-Making on Iraq Reconstruction
I wrote about this in a recent diary. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer will be called to testify on his management of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and how nearly $9 billion dollars went "poof" during his tenure. Another witness that was scheduled to speak, Ambassador Timothy Carney, currently the Coordinator for Economic Transition in Iraq, is now being prevented from testifying by the State Department. That's an interesting turn of events, considering that Carney has already spoken critically of the CPA and Bush's handling of the Iraq war. Carney will be replaced by David Oliver, former Director of Management and Budget for the CPA.
Wednesday, February 7 -- Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors
This hearing will focus on war profiteering by government contractors and subcontractors, including the private security firm Blackwater USA. In April 2004, four Blackwater employees were killed and their bodies mutilated by a mob in Fallujah, while they were providing security for a convoy delivering U.S. government food. In Panel I, four family members of the employees will testify about the company's inadequate provisioning of armored vehicles and other safety equipment: Kristal Batalona, Kathryn Helventson-Wettengel, Rhonda Teague, and Donna Zovko.
In Panel II, the committee will hear from representatives of the US Army, Blackwater USA, Regency Hotel & Hospital Co., ESS Support Services Worldwide, KBR, and Fluor Corporation.
Thursday, February 8 -- Management of Large Homeland Security Contracts: Deepwater and SBInet
In this hearing the Committee will focus on two examples of multi-billion dollar contracts with the Dept. of Homeland Security. Deepwater is a $17 billion program to help the US Coast Guard upgrade their aging fleet of ships, aircraft, helicopters, and communications and logistics infrastructure. Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grummon are two of the main contractors on this project. SBInet, is part of the Secure Border Initiative, to defend the nation's borders. The SBI focus is on border control and immigration enforcement inside the US. SBInet will focus on the technical systems to provide information and tools to Border Patrol agents so they can better detect, identify, classify and resolve illegal border activity by those who pose a threat to the United States. Boeing and its various subcontractors were awarded this $2.1 billion project in September 2006.
Witnesses scheduled to appear at this hearing include representatives from the Dept. of Homeland Security, the US Coast Guard, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grummon.
Friday, February 9 -- Allegations of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Pharmaceutical Pricing: Financial Impacts on Federal Health Programs and the Federal Taxpayer
This hearing will look at drug pricing practices that impact federal programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and the 340B program. The 340B program provides lower priced prescription drugs to Health providers certified by the Dept. of Health & Human Services (e.g. AIDS clinics, School programs, Homeless programs, and Tribal clinics, among others).
A variety of witnesses from academia, Dept. of Health and Human Services, the Govt. Accountability Office, Taxpayers Against Fraud, Attorney General of Texas, and the Dept. of Justice are scheduled to appear.
For more details on these hearings see the Committee website. It is a really great website, easy to navigate and up-to-date. I also give them props for broadcasting the hearings on their website. I'm not sure if CSPAN will cover these or not.
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