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Washington, D.C. --- Six New Jersey lawmakers today sent the following letter to the Army Corps of Engineers stating that the Army Corps should not award any construction contracts at Aberdeen Proving Ground until Congress receives reports from the Pentagon and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The letter was signed U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Rush Holt (-NJ), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jim Saxton (R-NJ) and U.S. Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
August 2, 2007
Robert L. Van Antwerp
Commanding General and Chief of Engineers
Army Corps of Engineers
441 G St. NW
Washington, DC 20314
Dear Commanding General Van Antwerp,
We are writing today to voice our concern regarding a $250 to $500 million contract that the Army Corps of Engineers is seeking to award to design and build a 2 million square foot multiple-building campus at Aberdeen Proving Ground to house the C4ISR mission. It has come to our attention that the Army Corps requested bids back in April and plans to make a decision on whom to award the contract in late September.
As you know, the 2005 BRAC Report states that "the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the Congressional Committees of Jurisdiction that movement of organizations, functions or activities from Fort Monmouth to Aberdeen Proving Ground will be accomplished without disruption of their support for the Global War on Terror." In addition to this reporting requirement, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has agreed to look into aspects of the Fort Monmouth BRAC decision such as cost overruns and deliberate omission of critical data relating to scientists and engineers.
We believe that Congress should completely receive the results of these reports and investigations before any contracts are awarded and any taxpayer dollars are spent on construction at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Rush Holt
Chris Smith
Jim Saxton
Frank R. Lautenberg
Robert Menendez
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