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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Who would have thought? WHO would have
thought?</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>...</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="CITE">Halliburton gets Katrina contract, hires former FEMA
director <BR>1 Sept. 2005
<P>WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The US Navy asked Halliburton
to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the <A
href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3335685">Houston
Chronicle</A> reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR
subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million <A
href="http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/CONCAP_extension.html">CONCAP</A>
contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take
place in Louisiana and Mississippi.
<P>KBR has not been asked to repair the levees destroyed in New Orleans which
became the primary cause of most of the damage.
<P>Since 1989, governments worldwide have awarded <A
href="http://www.halliburton.com/kbr/govServ/US/stateLocalRegional/emergencyResponse.jsp">$3
billion</A> in contracts to KBR's Government and Infrastructure Division to
clean up damage caused by natural and man-made disasters.
<P>Earlier this year, the Navy awarded $350 million in contracts to KBR and
three other companies to repair <A
href="http://www.halliburton.com/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/source_files/news.jsp?newsurl=/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/source_files/press_release/2005/kbrnws_020105.html">naval
facilities</A> in northwest Florida damaged by Hurricane Ivan, which struck in
September 2004. The ongoing repair work involves aircraft support facilities,
medium industrial buildings, marine construction, mechanical and electrical
improvements, civil construction, and family housing renovation.
<P>In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a
lobbyist for KBR. <A
href="http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2005/03/22/news/d_c_news/02newsdc23kkr.txt">Joe
Allbaugh</A> was director of FEMA during the first two years of the Bush
administration.
<P>Today, FEMA is widely criticized for its slow response to the victims of
Hurricane Katrina.
<P>Allbaugh managed Bush's campaign for Texas governor in 1994, served as Gov.
Bush's chief of staff and was the national campaign manager for the Bush
campaign in 2000. Along with Karen Hughes and Karl Rove, Allbaugh was one of
Bush's closest advisers.
<P>"This is a perfect example of someone cashing in on a cozy political
relationship," said Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government
Oversight, a Washington watchdog group. "Allbaugh's former placement as a
senior government official and his new lobbying position with KBR strengthens
the company's already tight ties to the administration, and I hope that
contractor accountability is not lost as a
result."</P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>