The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

Investigations Uncover Neglect and Abuse at Arlington Cemetery

The Arlington National Cemetery is renowned for its tranquility and peace, as it is the final resting place for many of our nation's most distinguished artists, writers, and warriors. Many former presidents, including John F. Kennedy, reside there, as do civil rights leaders and Supreme Court justices such as Thurgood Marshall.

However, despite its facade of serenity, the Arlington National Cemetery has recently been the center of a storm of controversy, as revealed by a Salon investigation earlier this month.

In April 2008, a conflict emerged regarding media coverage of funerals. Thurman Higginbotham, the Deputy Superintendent, pushed to keep the media as far away from the ceremony as possible, even though the families involved had allowed media coverage, as pointed out by The Washington Post. Although there was no set law or doctrine which dictated how the media should be handled, others declared that the families should have the right to choose.

The Post continued to follow the story as the conflict escalated. After details of corruption and harassment against Arlington employees emerged, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command also began to look into the cemetery.

The subsequent investigation revealed innumerable faults that the cemetery has swept under the rug over the past decade. For instance, the cemetery has failed to modernize its record-keeping system, opting instead to continue to use paper records. Although many similar cemeteries operate on an electronic system, which allows satellite mapping, Arlington's efforts to modernize have largely remained fruitless. Cards, flowers, and notes left on the graves of Iraq veterans are thrown away, ruined, or left to rot.

What's more, the cemetery testified to Congress in 2008 that “there are numerous examples of discrepancies that exist between burial maps, the physical location of headstones, and the burial records / grave cards.” Many whistleblowers have revealed that records or headstones and remains often do not match. “They told me that they've got people buried there that they don't know who they are,” stated one whistleblower, continuing, “Then they've got the wrong headstones over the graves…but nothing was ever followed up on.”

The graves weren't the only problems ignored at Arlington. Although the investigation revealed that Higginbotham had lied to Army investigators during criminal probes, he has never faced any legal consequences, nor is it expected that he ever will. The Army was and is aware of a “pattern of workplace…hostility,” and knew that the cemetery was facing vast structural and organizational problems. This awareness long preceded the investigations regarding Higginbotham. Where was the Army before? Why were no investigations conducted, nor any oversight available?

The scandal at Arlington serves as yet another reminder of the dangers of improper oversight and a lack of transparency. The senior officials at Arlington need to correct these problems, and the Army needs to understand the issues the cemetery faces. Some of our nation's greatest leaders are buried at Arlington--from scientists to soldiers killed overseas. It's time they got the peaceful final resting place they deserve.

-- Ana O'Harrow

Military/Law Enforcement Partnerships: A Growing Ball of Con-'Fusion'

On Thursday, the New York Times editorialized about a new kind of national security resource: so-called “fusion centers,” or joint anti-terrorism efforts between federal, state, regional, and local law enforcement agencies in which the military may also be playing a role. The Times worries that, with last week's disclosure that President Bush considered sending troops to Buffalo in 2002 to arrest members of a suspected terrorism cell, the wall that is supposed to separate the military from domestic law enforcement in this country is starting to crack.

As the Times points out, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 "generally prohibits the military from law enforcement activities within the United States." Yet earlier this year, the Army dispatched soldiers to patrol the streets of a small Alabama town after a man went on a shooting spree, seemingly crossing the line into domestic law enforcement.

For several years, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been warning that military personnel are taking part in fusion centers. The ACLU is also concerned about the involvement of private data-mining companies. Allowing private contractors to gather and disseminate sensitive intelligence and law enforcement information poses significant privacy risks, to say nothing of the possibility that such contractors may be performing inherently government functions. Another troubling aspect is the cloak of secrecy under which fusion centers typically operate.

Wikileaks, the online whistleblower resource, recently posted a batch of documents suggesting that fusion centers may also be rife with conflicts of interest. POGO is unable to download this massive PDF file, but Wikileaks' summary says that the documents--part of a 1525-page confidential file--detail efforts by the Washington State police to privatize criminal intelligence through a fusion center called the Washington Joint Analytical Center (WAJAC), which is housed at the FBI's Seattle field office. The file appears to include pricing, proposals, contracts, and background check information on specific individuals seeking jobs at the center.

According to Wikileaks, resumes show that some applicants have traveled back and forth through the revolving door between the military and private industry, sometimes remaining in the same building while doing so. It seems that one applicant left the Army to work for the research and engineering firm SAIC at the same base. She then went on to work for another contractor before re-entering the Army.

POGO would sure love to take a look at these documents. If anyone has better luck downloading the file, we urge you to post your findings in the comments.

-- Neil Gordon

Morning Smoke: House Ends Its F-22 Love Affair; Will the Senate Follow Suit?

House votes to end F-22 fighter jet production [CongressDaily]

Ethics members decline to vote [Politico]

Say Hello to My FIST [Air Force Magazine]

McHugh 'To Demand' Army Acquisition Fixes [DoD Buzz]

Bank Bonus Tab: $33 Billion [The Wall Street Journal]

Wall Street rebels at new pay rules [Politico]

How Reliable Are Lobbyist Registration Data? [BusinessWeek]

Regulators Are Getting Tougher on Banks [The Wall Street Journal]

Fed's Bear Stearns, AIG Assets Rise, Paring Losses [Bloomberg]

Morning Smoke: Most State Recovery Websites Still Lagging Behind

Report Shows Most States Failing to Provide Recovery Act Information Online [The Fine Print]

Some Banks in Govt's 'Healthy Bank' Bailout Are Struggling [ProPublica]

Defense Auditors Tighten Rules for Contractors [PaperTrail]

Senate Probes Banks for Meltdown Fraud [The Wall Street Journal]

Tax Evaders Flock to IRS to Confess Their Sins [The Wall Street Journal]

Goldman and JPMorgan Defend Commodity Firewalls [DealBook]

FDIC Poised to Split Banks to Lure Buyers [The Wall Street Journal]

Derivatives Plan Is Expected [The Wall Street Journal]

Hearing: "To consider the nominations of Honorable John M. McHugh to be Secretary of the Army; Dr. Joseph W. Westphal to be Under Secretary of the Army; and Mr. Juan M. Garcia III to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs" [Senate Armed Services Committee] - Click here to watch a live webcast

Check POGO's Twitter feed for updates from today's House debate on defense appropriations

Obama Reining in Contracting

Today, the White House issued two “good government” memos aimed at strengthening the federal acquisition system and improving the management of service contractors working for the government (i.e., work that might be better performed in-house). The new guidance follows the President's March 4, 2009 contracting memo and previous calls for public comments on how to improve these systems.

POGO is cautiously optimistic that the Administration and Congress are moving in the right direction. Any discussion of reducing non-competitive contracts and other contracts that are prone to waste, fraud, and abuse are great steps forward in improving the federal acquisition system. Altering the deeply rooted culture that exists within government and contractor facilities is going to take more than talk--we also need improved transparency (the IT Dashboard for monitoring agency and program performance is a nice start), decision-making, accountability, oversight, and enforcement. The devil will be in the contracting reform details, but considering that the government awarded over $530 billion in contracts in FY 2008 and is planning on spending an additional $580 billion on economic recovery initiatives (stimulus spending actually totals $787 billion over ten years, but that amount includes tax provisions), something has to be done to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

Moreover, the President's initial plans seem to go further than the timid opinion that enhancing the federal acquisition workforce will fix all contracting problems. The White House memos discuss workforce issues, but they also provide guidance on ending ineffective or wasteful contracts, leveraging the government's buying power, reducing the use of non-competitive, cost-reimbursement, and time-and-material and labor-hour contracts, as well as taking steps to reduce the government's over-reliance on contractors, which can be costly and detrimental to long-term government missions.

Stay tuned because more government guidance on these issues is schedule to be released in late September.

-- Scott Amey

Shell Cleaning Spill Down by the Seashore

Only a few days after the Minerals Management Service (MMS) celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the MMS Gulf of Mexico Region’s Unannounced Oil Spill Drill Program, Reuters reports that Shell and the Coast Guard are now working to contain one of the largest recent spills in the area. Officials from the Department of Transportation, Coast Guard, and MMS will investigate the cause of the spill of approximately 1,400 barrels of crude oil 30 miles away from Louisiana's coastline.

While this may have been an unpreventable accident, there have recently been concerns about MMS's oversight of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico (beyond the now infamous deepwater drilling leases). Earlier this month, Food and Water Watch urged the Department of Interior and MMS to suspend production of BP's platforms until they investigated allegations that the platforms lacked a large percentage of engineer-approved and up-to-date documents for their subsea equipment to ensure safe operation and maintenance. As noted in our report, Drilling the Taxpayer: Department of Interior's Royalty-In-Kind Program, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) previously identified a systemic problem with inspection priorities in minerals revenue management, particularly in their emphasis on inspecting prospective drilling leases rather than making assurances that the collection of oil and gas was accurate. Both POGO and the GAO have said for many years--and the GAO repeated again as recently as last April--that "Federal Oil and Gas Resource Management and Revenue Collection [are] In Need of Stronger Oversight and Comprehensive Reassessment."

This latest incident seems to be an additional indicator of the need for more scrutiny of how MMS manages the public's natural resources. Effective reform could generate billions in much-needed revenue for taxpayers.

-- Mandy Smithberger

Breaking: Senate Committee Passes Improved Whistleblower Protection Bill

Great news: the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee just approved the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 by a bipartisan unanimous voice vote.

This morning we attended the Committee's markup for the bill (S. 372). Led by Committee Chair Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME), amendments were added to give many federal workers access to jury trials, extend coverage to federal scientists and transportation security officers, and close several loopholes in the current law. This latest version of the bill brings it closer to its House counterpart, and incorporates many of the recommendations we made to the Committee in testimony last month.

POGO and its coalition partners in the Make It Safe Campaign believe the bill could be improved even more by including permanent access to jury trials for all whistleblowers, truly independent and functional due process for employees of the FBI and other intelligence agencies, and coverage for all federal contractors. Nonetheless, the bill passed today is a huge step forward, and we want to thank Senators Lieberman, Collins, Akaka, Voinovich, and McCaskill, in addition to other Senate offices and representatives from federal agencies and the White House, for their tireless efforts to achieve meaningful whistleblower protections for all federal employees.

-- Marc Vartabedian and Michael Smallberg

Pentagon IG Reviews Electrical Safety

Last week, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD IG) released three audit reports concerning electrical safety at U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two of the reports focus on electrocution deaths in Iraq; the third is an assessment of electrical safety in Afghanistan.

The DoD IG's investigation of the death of Staff Sergeant Ryan D. Maseth found failures of "multiple systems and organizations" in his electrocution death at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad in January 2008. The report found that KBR, the building maintenance contractor at the base, did not properly ground equipment during installation or report improperly grounded equipment during routine maintenance, and that KBR personnel had inadequate electrical training and expertise. The report also faults Army command and contracting officials for inadequate oversight.

A "Part II" report reviews closed and pending investigations into 8 of 17 other electrocution incidents in Iraq. No specific contractors are identified or singled out for criticism in this report, although it notes that contractors bear some degree of responsibility in several of the incidents.

The third DoD IG report, Assessment of Electrical Safety in Afghanistan, comes at a critical time. As we increase our presence in Afghanistan and award billions of dollars in reconstruction contracts under the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP IV) contract, it is imperative that we learn from our mistakes in Iraq when it comes to the matter of electrical safety. The report notes that the military chain of command seems to have a heightened awareness of the risks associated with the electrical infrastructure in Afghanistan and has taken steps to address these issues, such as establishing a theater-wide electric code, stepping up inspections, and promoting electrical safety awareness among personnel. However, more needs to be done. The DoD IG recommends increasing the number of contracting officers and other personnel at U.S. installations to oversee the electrical infrastructure. It also identifies potentially dangerous situations at two particular bases that require immediate attention.

By a strange coincidence, on the same day that DoD IG released those three reports, Peter Taylor, a Marine who served in Iraq at Camp Fallujah, filed a federal lawsuit in Virginia alleging he was electrocuted in July 2007 as the result of the negligence of KBR, the camp's mechanical and maintenance services contractor. According to Taylor's complaint, he and other Marine personnel at the base had to rig up their own generator because KBR's main electrical generator frequently malfunctioned. While they were doing this work, KBR electricians arrived to attempt repairs to the main generator. He claims the KBR employees, despite being warned, turned on the main generator while the Marines were doing their work, causing Taylor to suffer severe electrocution burns on his hands and wrists. Taylor is seeking $2.5 million in damages.

-- Neil Gordon

Morning Smoke: OMB Cutting Contractors, Advising Veto on Pres Helo

OMB Moves to Cut Outside Contractors [Federal Diary]

White House threatens veto over helicopter [The Hill]

How Firms Wooed a U.S. Agency With Billions to Invest [The New York Times]

LockMar Defends JSF Against JET and Heinz Smacks Pratt Over F-135 Costs[DoD buzz]

Coast Guard: Still in Deep Water? [Mother Jones]

"Not Consistent With Independence" [OMB Watch]

Congress and the U.S. Intelligence Community: A Primer [Nukes and Spooks]

House Panel Approves Executive Pay Restraints [The New York Times]

Watchdog: SEC Fulfilled Duty in Stanford Case [Associated Press]

U.S. pulls $644M Iraq jobs program [Federal Times]

Reporting Revenue: An Argument For Listing It By Company

The Revenue Watch Institute, one of POGO's funders, just released a report examining how the nature of revenue disclosure impacts the ability of citizens to hold countries accountable for revenue management. While the report focuses specifically on disclosures within the context of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)--an initiative that the United States has not implemented--the challenges raised in determining whether to disclose information on an aggregated or disaggregated (company-by-company) basis are familiar to anyone who has sought information, only to be told that it is proprietary:

Many people interviewed for this report stated that their primary objection to disaggregated reporting was that they believed that it shifted the debate from the accountability and transparency of government revenues (and eventually expenditures) to scrutinising individual companies and whether they were paying “what they should.” As one interviewee put it, “I can only think of one reason for NGOs to want disaggregated payments information and that would be in the hope that it gives them something with which they can attack individual companies.”

On the domestic level, POGO has been a longtime advocate for transparency for Minerals Management Service (MMS) leases, contracts, documents, and procedures in order to avoid fraud and increase public confidence in the agency. But our many years investigating the United States's royalty management system has demonstrated that this information, which is essential to hold the government accountable, is rarely publicly available. As our report, Drilling the Taxpayer: Department of Interior's Royalty-In-Kind Program revealed, it can be easier for companies to access this information than it is for taxpayers. But even worse, our report included instances when information was deliberately kept from Congress:

[T]he Audit Manager for the North Dakota State Auditor's Office told the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources that a high-ranking MMS official advised him and other members of the State and Tribal Royalty Committee not to testify before Congress: "This official expressed to us that Congress only requests that you testify so you aren't obligated to testify and that it is best to keep any problems in house."

The Revenue Watch Institute's report appropriately points out that holding the government accountable for accurate and honest revenue collection means making sure that pressure is also exerted on companies: "The dual focus on governments and companies is deliberate: By scrutinising both sides of the transaction,...[will] hopefully disclose information that will be more credible and will make it harder for one side (whether a government or a company) to deliberately misstate information." This, of course, is the same logic behind POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD), and our continued advocacy for government databases of contractor responsibility data being made public. As we found in our fight for the F-22, there is a certain effectiveness that comes with holding people accountable by name.

Perhaps the most important revelation from this report is that not all companies are opposed to increased transparency--some companies would even prefer to even the playing field by increasing the amount of information available. But the impetus to increase transparency and accountability in revenue reporting, the report finds, must come from civil society.

-- Mandy Smithberger

Murtha Introduces Two Amendments to Appropriations Bill to Strike F-22 Funding

The House Rules Committee will meet today at 3:00 to consider amendments to the National Defense Appropriations Act for 2010, including two amendments proposed by Defense Appropriations Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) to strike funding for the F-22:

Murtha (PA) #601 - Would redirect funds otherwise available for advance procurement of additional F-22 aircraft, and provide for spare and repair parts including engines for the F-22 and C-17, aircraft defensive systems, and aircraft weapon systems.

Murtha (PA) #602 - Would (1) redirect funds otherwise available for advance procurement of additional F-22 aircraft, and provide for spare and repair parts including engines for the F-22 and C-17, aircraft defensive systems, and aircraft weapon systems; (2) include a technical revision in the Defense Health Program and shift $26,000,000 from operation and maintenance funding to research, development, test and evaluation; and (3) prohibit further outsourcing of utility functions at the US Military Academy at West Point.

It appears that continued procurement of the F-22 may be a more partisan issue on the House side than it was in the Senate: Defense Appropriations Ranking Member C.W. Bill Young's (R-FL) amendment asks for the money for the F-22 to stay in. POGO hopes that the Rules Committee supports the decision of two secretaries of Defense, two Presidents, three chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the current secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force--and most recently the Senate in a 58-40 decision--to stop buying F-22s.

-- Mandy Smithberger

Morning Smoke: Murtha Unfazed by Corruption Investigations

Murtha Taking Devil May Care Attitude To Corruption Probes [TPMMuckraker]

F-35 Engine Shows 'Fairly Significant' Cost Growth [Bloomberg]

'Real' Army Hails FCS Cut [DoD Buzz]

From under TARP, banks add lobbying [Politico]

U.S. Issues New Rules on Short-Selling [The Wall Street Journal]

Cabinet offers $243M in budget cuts [The Hill] - Click here to see how the administration could save an additional $100 billion

Lawmakers Question Goldman’s Profits, Privilege [The Washington Independent]

Federal Reserve's 'approval' rating lags even the IRS' [Money & Company]

Lobbyists gain upper hand in Obama battle [The Hill]

The Cowboys of Kabul: How a pair of bankrupt Texas grandparents cashed in on Afghanistan's contracting bonanza [Mother Jones]

Small Banks at Center of Overhaul Debate [The Washington Post]