Representative Henry A. Waxman 30th District of California

Related Documents Letter - Letter to Chairman Davis

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Washington, Oct 25, 2005 - Rep. Waxman writes Chairman Davis for the fourth time to request that the Government Reform Committee, the principle investigative and oversight committee in the House of Representatives, investigate reports of egregious waste under contracts awarded and administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

According to news reports, Pentagon auditors recently examined a contract between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Unisys, a technology and consulting company, for the upgrade of airport computer networks. Among other irregularities, government auditors found that Unisys may have overbilled for as much as 171,000 hours of labor and overtime by charging for employees at up to twice their actual rate of compensation.

While the cost ceiling for the contract was set at $1 billion, Unisys has reportedly billed the government $940 million with more than half of the seven-year contract remaining and more than half of the TSA-monitored airports still lacking upgraded networks. A former TSA official has reported that he was instructed by senior Administration officials to mislead Congress and the public by citing this $1 billion figure rather than the $3 billion the project was expected to cost at completion.

The apparent overcharging and lack of accountability in the Unisys network upgrade project is the latest in a series of serious contracting irregularities at DHS. In light of these concerns, Rep. Waxman renews his request to Chairman Davis that the committee fulfill its responsibility to conduct oversight that protects taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse.