Contractor Protests 'biased' Treatment At Hearing

RICHARD LARDNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — KBR Inc., a major military contractor whose fees have generated criticism, says it was subjected to "judgmental and biased" treatment by a special panel investigating waste and fraud in war spending.

The May 4 hearing held by the bipartisan Wartime Contracting Commission was a one-sided affair that unfairly trashed the company's reputation, according to William Bodie, KBR's interim president for government and infrastructure.

"The hallmark of any serious evaluative body should be a rigorous and unbiased commitment to collecting data and perspectives prior to the assemblage of conclusions," Bodie wrote in a May 12 letter to commission leaders.

Formed by Congress last year, the eight-member commission has broad authority to examine military support contracts, reconstruction projects and private security companies. The May 4 hearing was its second public session as it works to complete an interim report next month. A final report is due in 2010.

Houston-based KBR was not invited to testify at the hearing. Nor did company representatives ask to testify, Michael Thibault, co-chair of the commission, said Wednesday. KBR was asked to provide a written statement and did.