Ranking Members Waxman, Eshoo, and DeGette Call for Investigation of DHS Grants to Motorola

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today Ranking Members Henry A. Waxman, Anna G. Eshoo, and Diana DeGette sent a letter to John Roth, Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), requesting an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct by Motorola in the sale of public safety telecommunications' equipment and services.

In March, the McClatchy newspapers published a series of articles, which found that "government officials have handed [Motorola] noncompetitive contracts, used modifications of years-old contracts to acquire new systems, or crafted bid specifications to Motorola's advantage." A McClatchy article highlighted that "Auditors who track the use of grants from [DHS] and other agencies have given little scrutiny to the behavior of state and local officials who tilt procurements toward Motorola, including those who ignore requirements that its radios fully interact with other brands."

In the letter the members wrote, "We are concerned that the state and local jurisdictions discussed in the McClatchy articles, as well as many other jurisdictions, may have squandered federal grants, provided in part by DHS, as a result of questionable practices by Motorola. If the allegations in the McClatchy articles are true, millions of federal tax dollars may have been wasted, and millions more are at risk. We therefore ask that you initiate an investigation to determine whether the abuses described in the McClatchy articles occurred and if so, whether DHS grants were involved. If DHS grants were involved, we ask that you please propose changes to prevent a recurrence of these abuses."

The text of the letter is available here.