Channel 13: Allen v. Collins on Iraq War contractor oversight

News Channel 13 had this piece tonight with U.S. Rep. Tom Allen continuing to criticize Sen. Susan Collins for not calling Senate hearings to investigate American contractors such as Halliburton for war-profiteering. (Click here for the full report, posted by the Allen campaign.)

Allen said Collins had the authority to call these hearings investigating the contractors when she chaired the U.S. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He said she ignored 10 letters from members of the committee.

In February U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. came to Maine and together with Allen made the same allegations.

Allen told Channel 13 that Collins’ lack of oversight contributed to the loss of money and lives.

“Bring the executives in, sit them down in a chair and start asking them questions under oath,” Allen told Channel 13. “It never happened.”

Collins said she rejects these “very serious” allegations, calling them absurd. Instead of holding the hearings, Collins said she helped pass laws regulating contractors and got a special inspector general in Iraq. “I think that’s far more effective than tossing hand grenades from the sidelines, trying to grab a few cheap headlines,” she said.