SIGAR contractor debarment recommendations

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

The list of all contractors/individuals that the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction believes should be ineligible from receiving U.S. reconstruction funds. This collection of entities was referred to in SIGAR's April 30, 2015 Quarterly Report to the United States Congress. If possible, please indicate which entities have already been officially designated as being restricted from receiving such funds.

"Another positive development occurred in an area I have discussed in my last eight quarterly reports: the need to suspend or debar supporters of the insurgency to prevent U.S. reconstruction funds from being used to further destabilize Afghanistan. Beginning this quarter, the majority of the 43 individuals and entities that SIGAR referred to the U.S. Army have been publicly listed in the General Services Administration’s (GSA) System for Award Management, providing a readily accessible notice to contracting officers and prime contractors that the listed individuals and entities should be restricted from receiving contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. This change is a result of legislation recently passed by Congress, SIGAR’s audit recommendations, and coordination between SIGAR’s suspension and debarment program and DOD. The result is a workable process 2530 Crystal Drive Arlington, Virginia 22202 that provides notice of exclusions from contracting based on support to insurgents and terrorists. While the change represents progress, it still leaves unscathed a significant portion of the individuals or entities that SIGAR has concluded should be debarred or suspended from receiving government contracts. SIGAR will continue to press to have all such individuals or entities added to GSA’s list."

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl C.D. Lipton