[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23785-23786]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CRONYISM IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION: DAVID SAFAVIAN, THE MICHAEL BROWN 
                             OF PROCUREMENT

  (Mr. OWENS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OWENS. Madam Speaker, together Americans can do better in showing 
Iraq and the rest of the world how true democracy will not tolerate 
corruption. We must set better examples than the Bush administration 
has set.
  One glaring example of Bush corruption came when President Bush 
nominated a former lobbyist, David Safavian, as the Chief Procurement 
Officer for the Federal Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Safavian 
had limited experience with procurement when President Bush chose him 
for that powerful position. What he did have, however, were strong 
connections to powerful Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The two 
lobbyists, Safavian and Abramoff, shared clients at the firm where they 
worked in the early 1990s. Later, through his position at

[[Page 23786]]

the GSA, Safavian helped Abramoff lease Federal property for office 
space. In exchange, Abramoff took Safavian on an expensive golf trip to 
Scotland.

                              {time}  1030

  Not surprisingly, Mr. Speaker, David Safavian was arrested last month 
for obstructing a Federal examination into Jack Abramoff's questionable 
business dealings with Washington Republicans. At the time of his 
arrest, Mr. Safavian was a multibillion-dollar Hurricane Katrina 
contract awardee.
  Together, America, we can do better.

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