Bill Bennett: “with all of the discussions that have occurred in recent weeks regarding the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA], it seems…”

“with all of the discussions that have occurred in recent weeks regarding the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA], it seems that every year about this time, we in Congress scratch our heads and wring our hands over how to improve efficiency with this most cumbersome of Federal bureaucracies. I want to share with my colleagues an experience that one of my constituents recently had with the BIA. It deals with Hodges, Inc., a small construction firm with home offices in Sandy, UT. This is a case with a long and complicated history, but I want my colleagues to have a better understanding of what it is like for a small contractor to conduct business with the BIA. On June 20, 1994, the BIA awarded to Hodges, Inc., a contract for the renovation of the Taos Pueblo Day School in New Mexico, in the amount of $649,541. According to this agreement, the renovation work was to have been completed within 120 days from July 5, 1994. The first problem occurred when the architect of the project was also selected to be the contracting officer's representative [COR] creating several built-in conflicts of interest.”