WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. John W. Olver announced today that the GAO's official report on the currency paper procurement process was accurately revised from their earlier draft which had sparked major concerns among many members of Congress. Last month Senator Kennedy, Congressman Olver, and 18 other members of Congress sent a letter to the Comptroller General of the U.S. General Accounting Office with specific accusations and criticized many of the conclusions and recommendations made in the GAO draft report on currency paper procurement. For the last 119 years, Crane & Co. of Dalton, Massachusetts, has supplied the currency paper to the U.S. government.

Some of the features of the draft report that were removed from the final report included:   provisions that would have recommended government subsidies to paper companies for equipment; provisions that would have recommended that Crane and Co. be excluded from portions of the current and future solicitations; and, recommendations to make changes to the current solicitation that is set to be awarded this fall.

"The GAO has recognized that Crane & Co. should not be punished for providing a unique, quality product. I am also pleased that the GAO recognized the importance of letting the current solicitation go forward without any further disruptions," Olver said.

The House version of the FY Š99 Treasury, Postal Appropriations bill contains language that would postpone the current solicitation.

"Crane Paper had to invest their own money, time and resources in developing and producing distinctive currency paper. It would have been ludicrous and unfair for the government to hand out subsidies for other companies to compete or to exclude Crane from future contracts.
 
"Even though the report removed the most egregious recommendations, I have concerns about the GAO's failure to adequately acknowledge the BEP's recent efforts to improve the competitive procurement process. I am also concerned with the GAO's recommendation, that under certain circumstances, US currency paper could be produced abroad. The secret service has adamantly stated that this would raise serious security threats," Olver said.

Over the last year and a half Congressman Olver has worked closely with Senators Kennedy and Kerry to encourage the GAO to produce an accurate and fair report to Congress on the effectiveness of competition among the current procurement policy.