In article <c0mc5r$tsh$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>, Mark Graffis says...

(CBS/AP) Frustrated that they couldn't convince Republicans to conduct
hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Democrats convened a
panel of their own Friday to hear a former Halliburton employee testify that
the company wastes taxpayers' money.

Halliburton, which supplies military support services in Iraq and elsewhere,
routinely purchased items at higher prices from preferred suppliers, said
Henry Bunting, who worked for the company in Kuwait last year.

"There were frequent instructions by procurement supervisors and management to
keep ... requisitions under the $2,500 threshold to avoid competitive
bidding," Bunting, of Houston, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

"Remember, this is a 'cost plus contract' so Halliburton would get reimbursed
for its costs plus a percentage," he said.

The chairman of the panel, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the hearing was
needed because of allegations that Halliburton overcharged for delivery of
gasoline to Iraq; that company employees took kickbacks and that the firm
charged too much for meals served to troops in Iraq.

"It seems to me that these incidents may well reflect a broad mind-set: one
that was born on the day that these contracts were awarded without
competition, and that was nurtured through a lack of oversight by this current
administration and majority-controlled Congress," Dorgan said.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said he has been requesting for nine months
that the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, led by Republicans, conduct
the hearing.

Bunting, who quit after working 15 weeks for Halliburton in Kuwait, handed
Dorgan an embroidered towel with the logo of a Halliburton subsidiary, saying
a company manager insisted on ordering the towels for between $4.50 and $5.50
instead of $1.60 for cheaper towels.

On Thursday, two House members wrote Pentagon auditors about allegations of
waste by Bunting and a second, unidentified former Halliburton worker. The
letter was sent by Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and John Dingell, D-Mich.

Halliburton, run by Cheney before his 2000 vice presidential campaign, has
consistently denied overcharges.

Bunting was a field buyer who filled requisitions from Halliburton employees
by locating vendors. The second ex-employee was a procurement supervisor who
did similar work.

According to Waxman and Dingell, Bunting and the unidentified whistleblower
contend:
   a.. Top Halliburton officials frequently told employees that high prices
charged by vendors were not a problem because the U.S. government would
reimburse the costs and then pay the company an additional fee.

   b.. Higher than necessary prices were paid for ordinary vehicles, leased
for $7,500 a month, and for furniture and cellular telephone service.

   c.. Halliburton tried to keep as many purchase orders as possible below
$2,500 so its buyers could avoid the requirement to solicit quotes from more
than one vendor.

   d.. Supervisers provided buyers with a list of preferred Kuwaiti vendors,
including companies that charged excessive prices. Buyers were not encouraged
to identify alternative vendors.
 The letter was sent to the Defense Contract Audit Agency, which found in a
preliminary audit that Halliburton may have overcharged taxpayers $61 million
in delivery of oil to Iraq.

 Congressional Democrats and the party's presidential candidates have made
Halliburton's extensive government contracts a major election issue,
contending the business showed favoritism toward Cheney's former company.

 The vice president has repeatedly said he had no involvement with the
company once he left Halliburton before the 2000 campaign. However, his
financial disclosure form indicates he still receives deferred compensation

>from the firm.

 Halliburton was a top Pentagon contractor well before Cheney became vice
president. According to Defense Department statistics, from fiscal year 1996
to 2000, Halliburton won $2.4 billion in contracts. During the first two years
of the Bush administration, Halliburton's take was about equal to its average
over the last five years of the Clinton administration.

 But in fiscal year 2003, Halliburton became the seventh biggest Pentagon
contractor, with $3.9 billion is Defense Department business.
 http://www.cbsnews.com/track/sumtxt2004021315/stories/2004/02/05/national/m
ain598135.shtml