http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&ncid=1278&e=3&u=/ap/20040518/ap_on_go_co/iraq_contractsWASHINGTON - Two companies monitoring billions of dollars in Iraq (news - web sites) reconstruction contracts have business relationships with some of the contractors they're overseeing, a report by congressional Democrats concluded Tuesday.
The report questioned the neutrality of Parsons and CH2M Hill, firms hired to detect fraud, waste and abuse in noncompetitive rebuilding contracts that have no cost limitations.
"My advice to taxpayers is, `Hold on to your wallet'," Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., told a news conference.
Spokesmen for Parsons, of Pasadena, Calif., and CH2M Hill, of Englewood, Colo., would not immediately comment on the report issued by Dingell and three other Democrats: Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, along with Rep. Henry Waxman of California. The four have hammered the Bush administration repeatedly for awarding noncompetitive contracts to rebuild Iraq
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