[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 129 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S7890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF JAMES A. WILLIAMS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, 
intend to object to proceeding to any unanimous consent agreement 
pertaining to the nomination of Mr. James A. Williams to be the 
Administrator of the General Services Administration.
  The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted to 
report the Williams nomination favorably to the full Senate on July 30, 
2008.
  I oppose this nomination because of Mr. Williams's actions in 
connection with the renegotiation of a contract with Sun Microsystems 
in August-September 2006. I have outlined my concerns about this matter 
in detail in a speech on the floor on July 24, 2008. That statement 
appears on pages S7272-S7274 of the Record.
  Mr. President, I would like to inform my colleagues that I have 
requested to be notified of any unanimous consent agreement that would 
allow for the consideration of the nomination of Mr. James A. Williams 
to be the Administrator of the General Services Administration, GSA.
  I intend to reserve my right to object to any such request.
  I expressed my opposition to this nomination in a floor statement on 
July 24, 2008, and in a letter to the chairman of the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on the same date. My letter 
to Chairman Lieberman appears in the Record on page S7273 at the 
conclusion of my speech.
  My opposition to this nomination is based on the results of an in-
depth oversight investigation conducted by my staff in 2006-2007. This 
investigation examined the actions of Mr. Williams, former 
Administrator Doan, and several other senior agency officials in the 
contract negotiations with Sun Microsystems, Inc. in May-September 
2006. There were: No. 1. allegations of fraud on the Sun contract that 
was being renegotiated; No. 2. Mr. Williams and Ms. Doan had knowledge 
of the alleged fraud; and No. 3. allegations that Mr. Williams and Ms. 
Doan had improperly interfered in the ongoing negotiations and put 
pressure on the contracting officer to sign what was considered a bad 
contract. I presented the findings of this investigation in a floor 
statement on October 17, 2007, which appears on pages S12952-12954 of 
the Record.
  At Mr. Williams's hearing on July 25, the committee did ask him some 
tough questions about his knowledge of the alleged fraud and his role 
in the Sun contract negotiations. However, Mr. Williams's response was 
less than complete, and there was little or no followup by the 
committee. I am preparing followup questions for Mr. Williams, asking 
him for more details.
  All the evidence developed in my oversight investigation points to 
the existence of serious unresolved issues involving Mr. Williams role 
in this matter. Based on what I know today, I do not believe that Mr. 
Williams should be promoted to high office. He placed the well-being of 
the GSA before the interests of all the hard-working American 
taxpayers, who he was sworn to protect. There needs to be some 
accountability in the Federal contracting system for blunders and 
missteps during the Sun contract negotiations.
  I may have more to say on this subject at a later date.

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