Washington – The government is reopening federal contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars handed out with little or no competition in the relief and reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Katrina, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director R. David Paulison told a congressional committee Thursday.
“All of those no-bid contracts, we are going to go back and rebid. We’re in the process of rebidding them already,” Paulison said in his first public testimony since succeeding Michael Brown three weeks ago.
Paulison’s announcement came as senators warned him that the agency must move quickly to rebuild the public’s confidence after its much criticized initial response to the hurricane.
Paulison distanced himself from decisions made by his predecessor and pledged FEMA’s cooperation with congressional investigators who are probing the agency’s handling of one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.
He made two appearances on Capitol Hill as six congressional committees held hearings on the hurricane, and lawmakers wrangled over what role the federal government should play in the recovery and how it should pay the multibillion-dollar costs.
The panel is responsible for oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA.
