Congress Watch: Democrats seek specifics on Katrina costs
The ranking Democrats on the Senate and House Appropriations committees have sent guidelines to the Office of Management and Budget on what they expect to be included in the weekly reports submitted to them on spending and funding of the Katrina relief efforts.
"Since we have not been consulted about what will be contained in these reports, the purpose of this letter is to lay out the type of information and level of detail that we would view as appropriate," says a letter sent late Wednesday by Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin to OMB Director Joshua Bolten. In their letter, they requested detailed information on every allocation or expenditure that totals more than $50 million: That would include the purpose of the expense, including whether the work will be performed by the government or a contractor. They asked that OMB reveal the name of the contractor and state whether the contract's nature was sole source, full and open competition, or limited competition.
Separately, they requested that the reports also show the amount of credit card purchases listed by agency and mission assignment, as well as the weekly status of the disaster relief fund, including a detailed balance sheet.
Congress Watch analyzes the issues of the day on Capitol Hill and profiles members of the Senate and House.
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