(FinancialHealth.net) – Our government has a responsibility to take care of our military veterans when they come home. These men and women have risked their lives for our country, and it’s vital that their transition back to civilian life be as seamless as possible. That’s why it’s infuriating to learn they may have been cheated out of hundreds of millions of dollars in funds set aside to help their small businesses.
In 2004, then-President George Bush signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to give disabled veteran businesses 3% of the government’s annual contracting dollars. Unfortunately, things went awry.
An audit by the Pentagon’s Inspector General found the Department of Defense (DoD) “awarded $876.8 million in contracts to ineligible contractors.” The department also failed to make sure the contractors were in compliance with the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business requirements after they won the contracts.
One Twitter user suggested the unscrupulous companies that took the money should be fined the same amount:
if this is the case and these companies did infact misrepresent their status,they should fined the amount of their contracts, PERIOD!
Pentagon Awarded $876M in Contracts Meant for Disabled Vets to Ineligible Companies: IG | https://t.co/lYNWbuw3Ra https://t.co/RHNIliZ88p
— G Man (@jar8head5) February 23, 2020
This news is disturbing. If the DoD fails to address this problem, disabled veterans will not get the money that was intended for them. After all they’ve given to this country, they shouldn’t have to deal with nonsense like this.
We’ll keep you updated as this story develops.
~Here’s to Your Financial Health!
Copyright 2020, FinancialHealth.net
