Burgess Owens: “together Americans can do better in showing Iraq and the rest of the world how true democracy will not tolerate…”

“together Americans can do better in showing Iraq and the rest of the world how true democracy will not tolerate corruption. We must set better examples than the Bush administration has set. One glaring example of Bush corruption came when President Bush nominated a former lobbyist, David Safavian, as the Chief Procurement Officer for the Federal Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Safavian had limited experience with procurement when President Bush chose him for that powerful position. What he did have, however, were strong connections to powerful Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The two lobbyists, Safavian and Abramoff, shared clients at the firm where they worked in the early 1990s. Later, through his position at the GSA, Safavian helped Abramoff lease Federal property for office space. In exchange, Abramoff took Safavian on an expensive golf trip to Scotland. {time} 1030 Not surprisingly, Mr. Speaker, David Safavian was arrested last month for obstructing a Federal examination into Jack Abramoff's questionable business dealings with Washington Republicans. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Safavian was a multibillion-dollar Hurricane Katrina contract awardee. Together, America, we can do better. ____________________”