Courtesy of the Washington technology website (http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/31930-1.html). Story by Alice Lipowicz.
In the more than four years of its existence, the Homeland Security Department has become a prime example of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, according to a new report from a government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The report is titled Homeland Security For Sale - DHS: Five Years of Government Mismanagement.
The report highlights government and media investigations of billions of dollars in troubled DHS contracts and programs, including the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, the Coast Guard’s Deepwater systems modernization program and Customs and Border Protection’s Secure Border Initiative Network.
DHS was established through the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and began operating in March 2003. The creation of DHS, which involved assimilating various domestic security operations under one department, was the largest reorganization of the federal government since the Defense Department was created in 1947.
The report also focuses on current business dealings of former DHS officials, including former Secretary Tom Ridge, in association with companies seeking to gain government work in the intelligence, defense and homeland security fields.
“Billions have been spent on projects to secure our borders and to inspect port cargo, but the projects have been delayed and the contractors have overcharged, all under the less than watchful eye of DHS political appointees,” the report states. “The stories about the agency would be comical if only our national security were not at stake.”
"Since its creation five years ago, Americans have been inundated with stories of waste, fraud and abuse at the Depmiment of Homeland Security ("DHS"). Mismanagement, grossly excessive spending, criminal conduct and shady no-bid contracts within DHS have become regular features on the evening news and the front page of newspapers. As a result, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") has prepared a report documenting some of the most serious problems facing the country's newest cabinet-level department." -- Executive Summary of Homeland Security For Sale.
Blog Editor Note: Here we go again. More evidence of the continued shameful conduct, fraud, waste and abuse by the DHS. It is time that the US Attorney General and the Federal Justice system start handing down criminal indictments to these criminals in DHS.
Hey Congress, how about investigating something that needs your oversight instead of the shameful political witch hunts you have been on since the Dems took control. If you can't get the job done in control DHS spending then maybe we need to fire you all as well during the next election.
