"The Mississippi Choctaw Indians are looking for another way to work Washington -- this time, through the Pentagon. You remember the Choctaws: The wealthy tribe got national notice last year as one of Jack Abramoff's biggest clients, paying the disgraced Republican lobbyist and his business partners more than $27.6 million to sway lawmakers on gaming issues. In Abramoff's recent plea agreement, he admitted to bribing members of Congress by funneling millions from the Choctaws and other tribes through charities.

Now the Choctaws are poised to receive a $300 million no-bid federal contract for post-Katrina cleanup in Mississippi. They are bereft of Abramoff's counsel: He was sentenced on Mar. 29 to nearly six years in prison and faces up to 30 more years for the charges involving the Choctaws. Yet the tribe has capitalized on contracting laws that favor Native Americans and on Congress' political pressure to steer Hurricane Katrina cleanup cash to home state companies. According to e-mails and documents reviewed by BusinessWeek, top Republicans led by Mississippi Senator Trent Lott have been leaning on the Army Corps of Engineers to replace AshBritt Inc., the big cleanup contractor based in Pompano Beach, Fla., with smaller home state firms.

The Corps thinks it has found the answer: IKBI Inc., the Choctaws' federal contracting subsidiary. A wrinkle in federal procurement rules designed to help Native Americans lets the Army forgo the usual competitive bidding process to award all $300 million in work to the Choctaws as a sole-source contract.

The downside? The Choctaws' new contracting company has just seven employees and has never won a federal contract, according to the Small Business Administration. What's more, IKBI plans to subcontract much of the work to a large white-owned outfit in Tennessee."

Get the Story:
Analysis: Cashing In On The Katrina Cleanup (Business Week 4/10)

Relevant Links:
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians - http://www.choctaw.org
Native American Contractors Association - http://www.nativeamericancontractors.org

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