Last month, Donald Sweeney, a veteran civilian economist who originally led the $50 million navigational study, accused senior military corps officials of manipulating economic data to create a favorable cost benefit ratio for upgrading the decades-old lock system on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
The Office of Special Counsel, which is a federal agency charged with protecting whistle-blowers, earlier this week said the corps officials 'may have engaged in violations of law, rule or regulation and a gross waste of funds' and gave the Pentagon two months to do an internal investigation. The Army Corps' response to the allegations will come as part of the OSC investigation.
"Tainted government figures don't do anybody any good," said Grassley. "It erodes the taxpaying public's confidence in the federal government, hurts the corps' credibility on Capitol Hill and even may jeopardize necessary navigational improvements to the Upper Mississippi."
A long-time advocate for whistle-blowers, Grassley wants to assure Sweeney's charges are taken seriously by the Department of Defense. Furthermore, the Iowa senator plans to have the GAO weigh the original economic analysis with the changes made after his release from the project.
"The GAO can make an unbiased review that will guarantee Congress has all the unfiltered facts on the table," said Grassley. "Critical policy decisions must be made that will determine the navigability of a major inland waterway that has a huge impact on the regional economy."