Welch: Keep spotlight on contracting loophole

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Vermont Congressman Peter Welch is continuing to shine a spotlight on a loophole in new federal rules that were supposed to cut down on waste, fraud and abuse in government contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Bush administration has delayed delivering documents to Congress explaining how a multibillion-dollar loophole exempting overseas work from scrutiny was slipped into the rule.

A House panel will hear April 15 from White House and other administration officials about the loophole, which drew protests from Democrats and Republican lawmakers alike and been disavowed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Welch says if the rule was a bureaucratic mistake as some in the administration have claimed, then it should be easy to explain.

But he says the delay in production of documents about the matter just raises more questions.

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