Byron Dorgan: “this morning in the Washington Post there was an article announcing a decision by the Defense Department that relates to…”

“this morning in the Washington Post there was an article announcing a decision by the Defense Department that relates to something I have held a good many hearings on through the Democratic Policy Committee in the past several years. We have been holding hearings on waste, fraud, and abuse with respect to the very large sole-source contracts that have been given to certain companies to do business in Iraq and provide food and fuel and logistics support for our troops. What we have discovered is very substantial waste, fraud and abuse. This morning, finally, the Washington Post says: ``The Army to End Expansive, Exclusive Halliburton Deal. Logistics Contract to be Open for Bidding.'' One of the side bars of the story talks about: ``Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals, and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water.'' All of these were issues given us to us by whistle-blowers who came to our Committee to testify because there was virtually no oversight on these issues by the other Committees. The decision to terminate these sole-source contracts is long overdue. Sole-source contracts are contracts that are, in my judgment, invitations for abuse. The bill that I introduced some months ago, along with 30 other Senators, called S.…”