McCaskill Concerned About Army’s Ineffective Use of Suspension and Debarment

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is expressing concerns about the U.S. Army’s growing backlog of contractors being considered for suspension and debarment, citing specific concerns about preventing the flow of funds to terrorist organizations.

In a letter to both the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army, McCaskill—Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight—along with Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Webb (D-VA.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) questioned the significant delays between when a referral is made to the Army and when the Army takes action to keep the contractor from receiving additional government contracts.  The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which investigates contractors for waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars in Afghanistan, reports that between June 2011 and June 2012, the Army’s average time to process a debarment referral was a total of 323 days.   

“It is the responsibility of the Army to ensure that all suspension and debarment referrals from SIGAR are processed in a timely fashion in order to stop any uncovered abusive practices as quickly as possible,” McCaskill wrote. “Unfortunately, significant time lapses between referrals and debarment action often allow more money to flow to corrupt or poorly performing contractors.”

McCaskill also expressed concerns about the Army’s failure to act quickly on more than forty debarment recommendations, which involve individuals or companies with links to terrorist organizations such as the Haqqani Network and Al Qaeda.

As Chairman, McCaskill has held multiple hearings investigating the mismanagement of reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan. Last year, the Commission on Wartime Contracting—a panel created through legislation by McCaskill—concluded that the U.S. has wasted as much as $60 billion through contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  McCaskill’s Comprehensive Contingency Contracting Reform Act, included in the FY13 National Defense Authorization act passed yesterday by the Senate, includes provisions to strengthen suspension and debarment at the Army and other government agencies.