Army to reimburse Kellogg Brown and Root

February 28, 2006

Army to reimburse Kellogg Brown and Root

Associated Press


The Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary all but $9
million of $222 million in costs that Pentagon auditors questioned for oil
industry work in Iraq, Army officials said Monday.
At issue is a $2.4 billion contract awarded to Halliburton subsidiary
Kellogg Brown and Root to deliver fuel to Iraqis and repair oil industry
equipment. The 2003 contract has come under criticism because it was awarded
without competitive bidding and because of the company's links to Vice
President Dick Cheney, once its chief executive officer.

The Army did a "lengthy, detailed" review of the $221.9 million in
challenged costs and resolved the questions, said Rhonda James, a
spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers in Dallas, where the contract is
administered.

James said that on some contested costs, Halliburton provided additional
documents that erased auditors' questions. The Army refused to reimburse
some of the costs, and Halliburton reduced others, she said.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Government
Reform, called the Army's decision "an insult to taxpayers."

In a letter to Rep. Tom Davis, the chairman of that committee, Waxman said
that typically, the military withholds payment on 55 percent to 75 percent
of the costs that Pentagon auditors challenge. In this case, the Army will
withhold payment on only 4 percent of the contested charges.

Waxman urged the committee to subpoena documents explaining compensation for
the contract, saying the Army has refused for a year to provide them.

Halliburton is one of the biggest contractors in the massive effort to
rebuild Iraq's economy and public works. In 2003 and 2004 alone, the
government has awarded more than $10 billion to Halliburton and its
subsidiaries, some of it in no-bid contracts.

The Army decision to pay much of the disputed charges was first reported
Monday in The New York Times.

> MoonMonkey:
> February 28, 2006
>
> Army to reimburse Kellogg Brown and Root

-babble cut-

Nymshifting, judy???