WASHINGTON-Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) has launched a probe into whether scandal-plagued MCI, which recently won a $34 million defense contract to supply mobile-phone service in Iraq, should be allowed to compete for federal contracts.
“Despite evidence that WorldCom (renamed MCI) committed serious investor fraud, the GSA has allowed WorldCom continued access to lucrative government contracts without providing an explanation of why the government should continue to do business with this corporation,” wrote Collins in a May 16 letter to General Services Administration head Stephen Perry.
Collins said MCI’s eligibility for government contracts raises serious questions, pointing to a $500 million fine to be paid by MCI as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the fact that four former WorldCom employees have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
Verizon Communications, parent company of the nation’s No. 1 mobile-phone operator, has been unabashedly outspoken about wanting to see MCI dissolved. Verizon is also one of the biggest campaign contributors to Collins, giving $15,221 in the current election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
House and Senate lawmakers are pushing bills that would require the government to justify sole-source contracts for Iraq reconstruction.
