The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) has found 70 new instances of misconduct and alleged misconduct by federal contractors who do business with the government. According to POGO’s online Contractor Misconduct Database, from 1990 through 2001 federal contractors had a total of 280 instances of misconduct and alleged misconduct and have paid more than $1.97 billion in fines, penalties, restitution, settlements, and cleanup costs, yet none of these contractors have been suspended or debarred from doing business with the federal government since 1990.
The Contractors Accountability Act of 2003 would establish a centralized database on actions taken against federal contractors and require a description of each action. This would provide debarring officials with the information necessary to protect the business interests of the United States. It would also place the burden of proving responsibility and subsequent eligibility for contracts on the person seeking the contract if they’ve been previously convicted of two violations.