Dear Mr. Secretary:
We recently learned that the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) awarded a $190 million contract to U.S. Investigations Services, Inc. (USIS). To better understand USCIS’s decision to award this contract to USIS, we request that USCIS provide a briefing to the Committee on the agency’s acquisition process for this procurement, including the nature of the services contracted from USIS and the source selection procedures used.
Last fall, the Department of Justice joined a civil fraud lawsuit against USIS alleging a systematic failure to adequately conduct security clearance investigations. Specifically, the complaint filed by the Department of Justice alleges that the senior management of USIS “dumped" incomplete investigations on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in order to increase the company’s revenues and profit. This began in at least March 2008 and continued through at least September 2012 and involved 665,000 background investigations - approximately 40 percent of the total investigations conducted by USIS during that time frame.
In light of the ongoing lawsuit, we are particularly interested in learning how USCIS evaluated the past performance of USIS on other contracts and assessed the company’s level of responsibility - both key requirements under federal procurement law. We understand that USCIS evaluated USIS’s proposed submission as “low risk."
With best personal regards, we are
Sincerely yours,
Thomas R. Carper
Chairman
Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
Claire McCaskill
Chairman
Subcommittee on Financial
and Contracting Oversight
Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
