{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-peters-convenes-hearing-to-examine-potential-conflicts-of-interest-in-federal-contracting-that-put-national-security-at-risk", "ICYMI: Peters Convenes Hearing to Examine Potential Conflicts of Interest in Federal Contracting that Put National Security at Risk", "2024-10-03", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MI", "Gary C. Peters", "P000595", "www.peters.senate.gov", "garypeters", "https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Last week, U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, convened a hearing to examine the national security risks posed by federal contractors with conflicts of interest. Specifically, the hearing examined conflicts that can arise when federal contractors, such as consulting firms and technology providers, do business with both the U.S. government and foreign adversaries or have clients with connections to adversarial nations. During the hearing, Peters and the witnesses discussed examples of recent troubling conflicts of interest from some federal contractors, and highlighted the need to prevent future conflicts of interest. Prior to the hearing, Peters sent a letter urging the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council to issue a rulemaking to prevent conflicts of interest in government contracting after missing its deadline by more than three months. This overdue guidance was required by Peters\u2019 Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act, which was signed into law in 2022.\n\n\u201cFrom modernizing and enhancing the safety of our infrastructure and power grid \u2013 to providing critical intelligence that safeguards our nation from foreign and domestic threats \u2013 the scope of government contractors\u2019 support is immeasurable. To ensure that government contractors are truly working in the best interests of Americans \u2013 we must ensure they are meeting the highest standards of integrity, impartiality and transparency by removing conflicts of interest from their work,\u201d said Peters during his opening statement.\n\nPeters continued: \u201cI am confident that we can all agree that Americans deserve full assurance that federal contractors are providing transparency and avoiding any potential conflicts before they are awarded taxpayer dollars.\u201d\n\nTo watch video of Senator Peters\u2019 questions, click?here.\n\nDuring the hearing, Peters and the witnesses discussed what steps Congress should take to mitigate future risks relating to federal procurement and how federal agencies are currently addressing potential conflicts of interest in federal contracting. The committee discussed the importance of enforcing requirements and monitoring contracts to avoid risks, especially in relation to data, while also stressing the need to ensure the procurement process remains competitive. The witnesses highlighted that conflicts of interest can pose serious threats to our national security and warned that not addressing these concerns could potentially harm U.S. interests.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-peters-convenes-hearing-to-examine-potential-conflicts-of-interest-in-federal-contracting-that-put-national-security-at-risk"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3347531203180552, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}