A bill from Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) mandating daily reporting on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts passed out of committee Wednesday. The “DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021” was approved by the House Committee on Homeland Security, according to a weekly report from Harshbarger. Harshbarger serves on the committee.
The bill currently has bipartisan support, with two Democratic and one other Republican cosponsor: Representatives Elaine Luria (D-VA-02), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08), and John Katko (R-NY-24). It would require the DHS secretary to publish daily reports of all covered contract rewards of $4 million or greater on a public website. It would also give the public the option to subscribe to notification alerts for updated reports.
Harshbarger promises the bill would prevent any further covert incidents, such as the overnight flights transporting unaccompanied migrant children into Tennessee. As The Tennessee Star reported in May, the migrant children were witnessed as having new cell phones, backpacks, clothes, and other amenities.
“The American people deserve to know details about DHS contract awards including descriptions, vetting, bidding, contract amount, recipients, and their purpose, especially for contracts awarded to deal with the self-inflicted Biden Border Crisis. My bill would help END ‘dark of night’ airport stake outs to try to determine how the Biden Admin[istration] is spending our hard-earned tax dollars via the U.S. Department of Homeland Security contract awards,” assured Harshbarger. “The Biden Administration must stop acting in secrecy.” (original emphasis included)
The representative added that the bill has an “excellent chance” for passage. The bill will now head to the House floor.
Harshbarger’s DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021 was first introduced at the beginning of July.
In April, Harshbarger was one of eight members of the House Homeland Security Committee to visit the border. As The Star reported, Harshbarger said that the border crisis was worse than what was reported. She reported that some facilities were at 420 percent capacity, and that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants weren’t detained.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
