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Database of federal contracts Last week, federal agents executed a search warrant at a Massachusetts software firm -- a federal contractor -- in the search for al-Qaida financial backers. Halfway across the United States, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., announced contracts for Army research, a boon for some companies. To help in reporting on government spending, the IRE and NICAR Database Library can provide copies of the database of federal contracts, from 1992-2001. In the most recent data available for the 2001 fiscal year, there are more than 560,000 contracts documented, worth more than $218 billion. The database shows services being performed or items being produced in all U.S. states, as well as U.S. territories and other countries. The list of services or products being contracted is long, and includes: telecommunications, maintenance, office furniture, food products, nursing home care contracts, consulting services, military equipment, computer equipment and software, janitorial services, removal and cleanup of hazardous materials, hotel/motel lodging, construction of troop housing, textile fabrics and fuel products. A journalist can find companies with a history of large contracts with agencies, including the U.S. military, showing where and what type of work is being performed and the amount of the contract. For more details about the data, go to http://www.ire.org/datalibrary/databases/fedcontacts/. To order the data, call the Database Library at 573-884-7711 or download an order form at http://www.ire.org/datalibrary/orderform/. IRE members can search the federal contracts database from 1992 through 2001 through the Campaign Finance Information Center's Power Search tool. Stories The IRE Resource Center offers stories about government contracts in its database: #14397: This series from The Washington Post documented why and how the Ronald Reagan Building, the most expensive federal building ever constructed, cost 125 percent more than Congress was originally led to believe. Among the findings: In most big construction projects, contract prices rise roughly 5 percent during construction; the 10 biggest contracts on this project increased 41 percent. The government was supposed to spend $29,000 to store a historic fountain, instead it paid $80,000. A $1,600 contract for rat traps grew to $14,000. The series also looks at the decision-making that led to the waste of tens of millions of dollars on delays and miscalculations. For more stories, search the story database at http://www.ire.org/resourcecenter/initial-search-stories.html. To contact the Resource Center, call 573-882-3364 or e-mail rescntr@nicar.org. Tipsheets The IRE Resource Center offers several tipsheets to help journalists report on government spending. They include: #1002: Glen Bunting of the Los Angeles Times provides tips on getting useful information from federal sources and documents and includes federal government Web sites useful for investigative journalists. #1583: This tipsheet from Bob Young of the Public Citizen's Congress Watch discusses how to check for industry influence on federal rulemaking. The tipsheet includes Web addresses. #1724: In this tipsheet, Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette advises reporters on how to talk to lawyers, and read GAO audits and federal agencies' regulatory agendas. Other tips are to avoid relying on press releases, and make the law your friend. More tipsheets can be found in the tipsheet database. Uplink and The IRE Journal In the January/February 2002 issue of Uplink, David Wethe and Michael Whiteley of the Dallas Business Journal give a very detailed explanation of how they analyzed the impact the war on terrorism would have on the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Using Visual Foxpro 6.0 and NICAR's database of federal contractors, the authors did a compelling story in just a week. IRE members can search the indexes of The IRE Journal and Uplink. Back issues of The IRE Journal and Uplink may be purchased for $10 each. There is an additional $10 user fee for nonmembers. Check with the Resource Center at 573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org for availability.
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