Border fence oversight criticized

By Lisa Friedman, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Article Launched:02/10/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

WASHINGTON - Construction of a $30 billion U.S.-Mexico border fence has come under fire as congressional investigators questioned whether more government oversight is needed.

In what lawmakers called a classic case of foxes guarding the henhouse, 60 percent of those overseeing contractors' work on the fence are themselves private contractors.

At least one of the firms hired to keep an eye on the project has a potential conflict of interest with Boeing Co., the prime contractor, congressional investigators said Thursday.

Federal auditors, meanwhile, warn that the project is in danger of becoming badly mismanaged, but U.S. officials said they have few other options.

"The department currently does not have the capacity to oversee a project like this," Richard Skinner, inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"There's more contractors than there are government employees" involved in the fence project, Skinner said.

The committee hearing, chaired by Los Angeles Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman, is the third in a series of inquiries held this week on contract waste, fraud and abuse.