October 2, 2003 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H9187 Once private insurance companies have in- There was no objection. www.newbridgestrategies.com, says, ‘‘The opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of come data on seniors, they can use it to se- f lectively market their products to higher in- such an unprecedented nature and scope that DISPENSING WITH CALENDAR no other existing firm has the necessary come seniors, who are likely to be healthier skills and experience to be effective both in and use less health services. WEDNESDAY BUSINESS ON Washington, D.C., and on the ground in This is a recipe for disaster. It is a step in WEDNESDAY NEXT Iraq.’’ the wrong direction for the successful and effi- Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I ask The site calls attention to the links be- cient Medicare program, that up until now has unanimous consent that the business tween the company’s directors and the two Bush administrations by noting, for exam- served every senior equally well. The ap- in order under the Calendar Wednesday proach taken in the Republican bill is wrong. ple, that Mr. Allbaugh, the chairman, was rule be dispensed with on Wednesday ‘‘chief of staff to then-Gov. Bush of Texas We should not be taxing middle-class seniors next. and was the national campaign manager for twice for their Medicare benefits. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential cam- We should eliminate the means testing of objection to the request of the gen- paign.’’ catastrophic drug coverage in the House Re- tleman from Arizona? The president of the company, John publican bill. I will vote no on this motion, and There was no objection. Howland, said in a telephone interview that urge my colleagues to do the same. it did not intend to seek any United States Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I yield f Government contracts itself, but might be a middleman to advise other companies that back the balance of my time. WASHINGTON INSIDERS’ NEW seek taxpayer-financed business. The main The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. FIRM CONSULTS ON CONTRACTS focus, Mr. Howland said, would be to advise MILLER of Michigan). Without objec- IN IRAQ companies that seek opportunities in the pri- tion, the previous question is ordered vate sector in Iraq, including licenses to (Mr. MCDERMOTT asked and was on the motion to instruct. market products there. The existence of the given permission to address the House company was first reported in National Jour- There was no objection. for 1 minute and to revise and extend The SPEAKER pro tempore. The nal, a weekly magazine of Government and his remarks.) politics. question is on the motion to instruct Mr. MCDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Howland said the company was not offered by the gentleman from Arizona we in the House get ready to rubber- trying to promote its political connections. (Mr. FLAKE). stamp another blank check for the He said that although Mr. Allbaugh, for ex- ample, had spent most of his career ‘‘in the The question was taken; and the President of the United States for $87 Speaker pro tempore announced that political arena, there’s a lot of cross-polli- billion, I submit for the CONGRESSIONAL the ayes appeared to have it. nation between that world and the one that RECORD an article from the New York exists in Iraq today.’’ Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, on Times dated 30 September by Douglas As part of the administration’s postwar that I demand the yeas and nays. Jehl. This is an article that talks work in Iraq, the Government has awarded The yeas and nays were ordered. about the company called New Bridge. hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to American businesses. Those contracts, The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- The principals are Joe Allbaugh, who ant to clause 8 of rule XX, further pro- some without competitive bidding, have in- was Mr. Bush’s campaign manager in cluded more than $500 million to support ceedings on this motion will be post- 2000; Mr. Ed Rogers and Mr. Lanny poned. troops and extinguish oil field fires for Kel- Griffith, who were both White House logg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halli- f assistants for the older Bush. These burton, which Vice President Dick Cheney led from 1995 until 2000. HOUR OF MEETING ON FRIDAY, people work with Haley Barbour, who is running for the Senate down in the Of the $3.9 billion a month that the admin- OCTOBER 3, 2003 istration is spending on military operations South. These folks have put together a Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I ask in Iraq, up to one-third may go to contrac- program. Joe Allbaugh was FEMA di- tors who provide food, housing and other unanimous consent that when the rector. He quit that job and went to services, some military budget experts said. House adjourn today, it adjourn to work putting together the war-profit- A spokesman for the Pentagon said today meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, Oc- eering company they call New Bridge. that the military could not provide an esti- tober 3, 2003. They are going to go out there, and mate of the breakdown. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there Administration officials, including L. Paul they are all swarming around. When Bremer III, the top American official in Iraq, objection to the request of the gen- Bremer was here in town, they had a tleman from Arizona? have said all future contracts will be issued big party, and they began talking only as a result of competitive bidding. Al- There was no objection. about how they are going to get the ready, the Web site for the Coalition Provi- f contracts from the $87 billion. We are sional Authority, http://cpa-iraq.org/, lists 36 going to fund these war profiteers right recent solicitations, including those for con- ADJOURNMENT FROM FRIDAY, OC- out of the White House. They have no tractors who might sell new AK–47 assault TOBER 3, 2003 TO TUESDAY, OC- shame. rifles, nine-millimeter ammunition and TOBER 7, 2003 other goods for new army and security [From the New York Times, Sept. 30, 2003] forces. Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I ask WASHINGTON INSIDERS’ NEW FIRM CONSULTS New Bridge Strategies was established in unanimous consent that when the ON CONTRACTS IN IRAQ May and recently began full-fledged oper- House adjourns on Friday, October 3, (By Douglas Jehl) ations, including opening an office in Iraq, 2003, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on its officials said. They added that a decision WASHINGTON, Sept. 29.—A group of busi- by the Governing Council of Iraq to allow Tuesday, October 7, 2003, for morning nessmen linked by their close ties to Presi- hour debates. foreign companies to establish 100 percent dent Bush, his family and his administration ownership of businesses in Iraq, an unusual The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there have set up a consulting firm to advise com- arrangement in the Mideast, had added to objection to the request of the gen- panies that want to do business in Iraq, in- the attractiveness of the market. tleman from Arizona? cluding those seeking pieces of taxpayer-fi- Mr. Howland is a principal of Crest Invest- There was no objection. nanced reconstruction projects. ment in Houston and was president of Amer- The firm, New Bridge Strategies, is headed ican Rice, once a major exporter to Iraq. f by Joe M. Allbaugh, Mr. Bush’s campaign Richard Burt, ambassador to Germany in the DISPENSING WITH CALL OF PRI- manager in 2000 and the director of the Fed- Reagan administration and a former assist- eral Emergency Management Agency until VATE CALENDAR ON TUESDAY, ant secretary of state, and Lord Powell, a March. Other directors include Edward M. member of the British House of Lords and an OCTOBER 7, 2003 Rogers Jr., vice chairman, and Lanny Grif- important military and foreign-policy ad- Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, I ask fith, lobbyists who were assistants to the viser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, unanimous consent that the call of the first President George Bush and now have are among the 10 principals. private calendar be dispensed with on close ties to the White House. Mr. Allbaugh, the chairman, spent most of At a time when the administration seeks his career in Texas politics before Mr. Bush Tuesday, October 7, 2003. Congressional approval for $20.3 billion to re- appointed him to head the federal disaster The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there build Iraq, part of an $87 billion package for agency. Mr. Allbaugh, who now heads his objection to the request of the gen- military and other spending in Iraq and Af- own consulting firm here, did not return tleman from Arizona? ghanistan, the company’s Web site, calls to his office today. VerDate jul 14 2003 02:50 Oct 03, 2003 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K02OC7.121 H02PT1 H9188 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE October 2, 2003 Mr. Rogers, the vice chairman who was a rounding Iraq, the question of weapons money unaccounted for, yet, already deputy assistant to the first President Bush of mass destruction, the question of having spent $70 billion the President and an executive assistant to the White some of the things that the administra- is asking for $87 billion more. She cau- House chief of staff, is also vice chairman of tion said that they might have misled tions us to exercise caution about that Barbour Griffith & Rogers, one of the best- connected Republican lobbying firms in the the people of the United States, discus- money that the President is asking capital.