Op- Ed
Stop Fraudulent Contractors From Fleecing Government
BY CONGRESSMEMBER CAROLYN B. MALONEY

Congressmember Carolyn Maloney represents the 14th Congressional District, encompassing Western Queens and Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Like millions of American taxpayers, I detest government fraud and waste. The United States is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, spending more than $419 billion on procurement awards in 2006 alone. Unfortunately, fraudulent contractors for many years have found the federal treasury to be an easy target.

Right now, there is nothing stopping a fraudulent contractor from bouncing from federal agency to federal agency, fleecing U.S. taxpayers the whole way. If a contractor burns the U.S. Department of Labor, for example, federal government watchdogs wouldn't have an effective way of informing other agencies about the contractor's misdeeds.

This absurdly outdated system has had an alltoo predictable result: contractors that repeatedly violate federal law are still getting millions of dollars in contracts from the federal government. According to data from the Project on Government Oversight, the top 50 federal contractors have paid approximately $12 billion in fines, penalties, restitution and settlements for more than 350 instances of misconduct since 1995.

When I served in the New York City Council, I wrote a series of laws setting up a computerized system called "Vendex" to monitor the billions of dollars in contracts the city awards each year. Year in and year out, this system has saved taxpayer dollars by allowing city officials to track fraudsters and prevent them from getting new contracts.

I believe that it's high time the federal government followed suit. That's why I introduced- and the House recently passed- the Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act (H.R. 3033), which would create a comprehensive, centralized database that would more efficiently monitor the federal procurement system and help prevent contracting fraud.

This bill will put in place the necessary infrastructure to ensure that federal spending goes to businesses that work within the law, not outside it. My bill also provides the added oversight of requiring procurement officers to officially document why they awarded a federal contract to a contractor with two or more debarment-worthy offenses within a three-year period.

I'm pleased to report that late last month, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) introduced the Senate companion of my bill. I thank Senator McCaskill for her dedication to making sure bad actors and felons are not awarded lucrative federal contracts. I urge the Senate to pass this legislation and send it to the president's desk. Once there, we will see if the president is willing to make a clean break with the dubious contracting practices- at home and especially in Iraq- that have become hallmarks of this administration.