Contract waste rampant, study says

WASHINGTON — Contract spending by the Department of Homeland Security has surged by billions of dollars since the agency's creation in 2003, but contracts have been plagued by large-scale waste, abuse and mismanagement, a bipartisan congressional report says.

The agency has failed to plan contract projects properly, has awarded them without adequate competition and has done so without enough staff to monitor contracts after they have been signed, said the report, prepared by staff of the House Committee on Government Reform. Moreover, it said, costs in many cases have spiraled beyond initial estimates, which it said department personnel had in some cases set misleadingly low.

The report was based on a review of more than 350 reports by government auditors and investigators, many of which have not been publicly released. It identified 32 contracts worth a collective $34.3 billion that were plagued by waste, abuse or mismanagement.

DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said the department had saved more than $2 million through strategic sourcing since 2004.

Legislation sought to keep tribunals

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday the administration is pursuing legislation that would authorize the same military tribunals the Supreme Court last month ruled were illegal.

In an interview on C-SPAN, Gonzales confirmed the administration had drafted a proposal that would allow indefinite detention of suspected terrorists. He also confirmed the administration was considering a system that would allow hearsay evidence when prosecuting terror suspects. Defendants also would be barred from their own trials if it were deemed necessary to protect national security.

Gonzales said such restrictions are common in international tribunals used to prosecute war crimes.

The New York Times first reported on the draft proposal on its Web site Tuesday. The draft says the more defendant-friendly court-martial system is "not practicable in trying enemy combatants" since it would require the government to share classified information, the Times reported.

The administration has been struggling with the issue of detainees' legal rights since the June 29 ruling by the Supreme Court that determined the military tribunals established by the Pentagon to prosecute the prisoners requires authorization by Congress. The administration had previously maintained that the president's executive authority allowed him to establish the tribunals without Congress' permission.

Indian tribes would be blocked from building Las Vegas-style casinos off their reservations under legislation approved by a House committee Wednesday.

"Instead of seeking to bring economic development to the Indian reservation, they have instead sought to bring the Indian reservation to wherever there is economic development," said Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., the bill's sponsor. "This is wrong, and it threatens both the future of Native American economic development and the integrity of Indian tribal sovereignty."

Pombo's bill, which passed 27-9, would amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 to eliminate an exception that allows tribes to build off-reservation with the approval of the Interior secretary and the state's governor. Tribes that already had submitted applications by March 7, 2006, the day Pombo introduced the bill, would be allowed to proceed under a grandfather clause.

Also

The head of the National Park Service, Fran Mainella, announced her resignation Wednesday.

Compiled from the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press