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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (728041)	3/2/2006 3:07:34 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Jeb Bush Asked to Explain Cruise Ship Deal By HOPE YEN , 02.28.2006, 05:47 PM A top House Democrat released e-mails Tuesday detailing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's role in pushing a $236 million federal contract for Carnival Cruise Lines to house Hurricane Katrina victims. In a letter, Rep. Henry Waxman of California called on Bush to explain his role in the award of the "lucrative contract," which was given to the Florida-based company without a full competitive bid process. The e-mails Waxman released were provided to Congress by Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Carnival Cruise Lines contract has turned out to be enormously expensive," Waxman wrote to Gov. Bush, the president's younger brother. "The e-mails from Mr. Brown provide the first confirmation of your involvement in the award of this contract and the first details of your contacts with Carnival and FEMA." A spokesman for Bush's office, Russell Schweiss, called any charges of impropriety baseless. "The governor's involvement was merely facilitating contact with a corporate citizen of Florida that was seeking to provide immediate housing relief," Schweiss said. "Any assertion the governor had to do with any contracting negotiations or further action by FEMA is unfounded." The Sept. 3 deal with Carnival for three full-service cruise ships - which sat half-empty for weeks in the Gulf Coast - has been criticized by lawmakers of both parties as a prime example of wasted spending in Hurricane Katrina-related contracts. The contract, which leased the ships for six months, expires this week. A preliminary review by Homeland Security inspector general Richard Skinner earlier this month found the decision to award the contract "was reasonable under the urgent circumstances," although an investigation of the deal's specific terms was continuing. According to Waxman, Bush forwarded to Brown, then the FEMA director, an e-mail from a Carnival advertising executive proposing that the company's ships be used for housing two days after the Aug. 29 storm. The Carnival official, Ric Cooper, has been a major political donor to the Florida and national Republican parties, including $65,000 to the state GOP in 2002, and $50,00 to the RNC in 2004, Waxman said. Less than three hours later, Brown replied to Cooper, saying he thought it was a "great idea." "One of my HQ folks working the housing issue is going to contact you directly," Brown wrote. "If you haven't heard from them by close of business tomorrow, please call me on my cell phone ...Thanks. MDB" On Sept. 1, Cooper then appealed to Brown and Brad Gair, FEMA's housing area command director, to speed along its consideration of Carnival's bid, saying the company needed to make plans accordingly. After Gair replied that he had done all he could and the matter was now in the hands of FEMA contracting, Brown expressed impatience. "Why? Why isn't this red tape being cut?" he wrote, two days before the deal was finally handed to Carnival. Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, called on Bush to provide a timeline of his contacts with Carnival and Brown as well as other documents relating to the Carnival proposal. Carnival officials have defended the deal, saying the company will not make extra profit because the $236 million price covers the revenue it would normally receive for up to 120,000 passengers it could book. A spokeswoman for Carnival, Jennifer De La Cruz, called the charges a "baseless controversy" that is "old news." "The ships have played an effective and critical role in housing and feeding thousands of people who desperately needed help and we are extremely gratified to have been there for them," she said. forbes.com