Why Is Texas Doing Business With Crooked WorldCom???

U.S. Senate Probe Raises Questions for Texas Leaders Too

WASHINGTON, D.C.  -  Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz, is available to talk show hosts to discuss the recently announced U.S. Senate investigation into federal government contracts awarded to WorldCom, now MCI, and to call on Texas state officials to prohibit state agencies from doing business with this fraudulent company.

“It is outrageous that the federal government, or any state government, would do business with MCI, given that the fraud they committed was three times greater then that of Enron and Arthur Anderson,” Schatz said.  According to records, Texas state agencies lost $141 million as a result of MCI’s fraud.  The Texas Teachers Retirement System alone suffered a $93 million hit.

This past week, Senate Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced an investigation into several federal government contracts that were awarded to MCI, including a $45 million contract to build a cell phone system in Iraq and a 7-year contract from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration just one day after being fined $500 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The federal government, in effect, is helping MCI pay back its fine by giving it big federal contracts. Why?” asked Schatz. “Both Arthur Anderson and Enron have been effectively barred from doing business with the federal government, yet MCI has not.  Senator Collins is right to ask for an investigation and we certainly hope Texas state leaders also take appropriate action to safeguard taxpayer dollars.”

PLEASE CALL MARK COYLE AT (703) 683-5004, EXT 130 IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MR. SCHATZ APPEAR ON YOUR TALK SHOW.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.  For more information, please visit www.cagw.org.