| Home | Information Sharing & Analysis | Prevention & Protection | Preparedness & Response | Research | Commerce & Trade | Travel Security | Immigration |
The threat level in the airline sector is High or Orange. Read more.
This information is not current, is not being updated, and may contain broken links.
Release Date: 10/04/05
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
October 4, 2005
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken unprecedented actions to ensure procurement integrity is maintained during one of the largest recovery efforts in the nation’s history.
The department has established a procurement control board to oversee and review contracts for Hurricane Katrina relief. The board is staffed by the DHS Inspector General’s Office and performs internal control reviews and contract audits.
DHS also established a Katrina Internal Control and Procurement Oversight Board on Sept. 23, consisting of the Under Secretary for Management, Chief Procurement Officer, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel, Inspector General, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Chief of Operations to oversee expenditures and appropriated dollars for the recovery and reconstruction of the Gulf Region.
The department is reviewing each purchase to ensure that a well-documented contract file exists for each purchase. The file serves as an auditable record of actions taken, to include a statement that tells the story of what was purchased, when the purchase was made, and who authorized the purchase. The file will also reflect a certification that the person making the request had the authority to authorize the purchase and the understanding regarding pricing at the time of the purchase. The department will compare the invoice amount and what was received to what was ordered and to price reasonableness. The department will also assess whether contracts made in the early stages of the disaster are still in the best interest of the government.
DHS is working with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) to obtain on-site administrative contracting personnel who have extensive knowledge of the contractors’ management systems to assess contractor compliance with technical performance requirements. Their expertise is providing real-time assistance in reviewing, evaluating, analyzing costs, negotiating and awarding contracts and task orders in support of relief efforts required by Hurricane Katrina.
The department has obtained Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) on-site audit support to review contract proposals. Their expertise is providing assistance to the FEMA contracting officer by reviewing, auditing, evaluating, and analyzing costs to ensure all they are properly allowable and allocable to task orders, in support of hurricane relief efforts. DCAA’s audit assistance will provide the confidence and credibility required for contracting officers to negotiate fair and reasonable contract costs.
In addition to these proactive efforts to ensure internal procurement integrity, FEMA and the DHS Office of the Inspector General are actively addressing external fraud issues. Fraudulent contractors and false claims of disaster losses are not uncommon in the wake of disasters, and DHS encourages anyone who believes they may have witnessed fraudulent activity to report it immediately through the DHS Inspector General's Hurricane Relief Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721.
For more information on DHS oversight and contracting opportunities, visit www.dhs.gov/openforbusiness.
This page was last reviewed/modified on 10/04/05 .
