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Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation

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Starting out as an GOP “go-fer”, Allbaugh rose to “go-to” guy for George W.Bush’s campaign contributors, then along with Karl Rove and Karen Hughes, completed **:{George W. Bush’s:(style="color:#ed1c24"):}:** “Iron Triangle” of political advisors. In 2001, he was named head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA). Soon after, Allbaugh started making really serious money.

In 2003, just before leaving office, Allbaugh arranged an extraordinary, but little known boon for a Friend Of George (FOG). He delivered a sole source $146 million contract for the nation’s emergency water supply, the first of its kind, to a Georgia family firm named Lipsey, with no emergency water delivery experience and only 14 employees.

The Lipsey family however, is also the nation’s 2nd largest gun wholesaler, a major GOP fundraiser, and head of both the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers.

When Hurricane Katrina hit two years later, at New Orleans’ Convention Center alone, nearly twenty thousand people went without water for up to four days, followed by conflicting official explanations. A Congressional committee found that Lipsey had overcharged the government at least $8 million for the work.

Contracts

Like most federal agencies under George W., FEMA received little attention until disaster struck, and the attention vanished soon thereafter. But there were warning signs at the agency well before the hurricane. One such example was FEMA’s abrupt decision in 2003, not long after Brown had taken over, to award an exclusive contract for emergency water supplies.

Over the years, FEMA had entered into water contracts with a variety of companies. One, not surprisingly, was Nestlé Waters North America, easily the continent’s biggest producer. Then, after W.’s inauguration, without explanation, FEMA went sole-source, and picked a little-known, family-run firm calledLipsey Mountain Spring Water.The company, based in Norcross, Georgia, had just fifteen full- time employees, no production capacity, and no distribution network.

Lipsey Mountain Spring Water may have been new to the world of federal water contracts, but its principals were not new to politics. The Lipseys are part of a politically connected family that gives regularly to both political parties and owns one of the country’s largest gun wholesalers. The gun lobby is among the nation’s most powerful, and a group whose events both Cheney and Allbaugh attended with regularity.

The Pentagon later confirmed that its inspector general was investigating Lipsey in response to complaints from truck drivers, trucking brokers, and ice producers, who did much of the actual work under Lipsey’s FEMA contract. These said Lipsey had not paid its bills or even answered its phone calls. (In 2005, following my request for an interview, company president Joe Lipsey III asked to see a list of questions, then never responded.) In 2007, Department of Defense auditors determined that the company owed the government $881,000 in overpayments in cases where the company erroneously received multiple duplicate fees.69

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http://whowhatwhy.org/2013/04/26/more-not-in-the-george-w-bush-presidential-library-and-museum-the-cronyism/

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Here is Chapter 23 of the book *Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, America’s Invisible Government and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years*, by WhoWhatWhy Editor-in-Chief Russ Baker: book online?

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MURKY WATERS

We may expect revelations in coming months and years about the process through which FEMA awarded contracts. But it is likely that even the most cursory examination will uncover high-level decisions that carried little obvious public benefit. One such example might be the agency’s abrupt 2003 decision to award an exclusive contract for water supplies in emergencies.

Prior to the Allbaugh-Brown reign, FEMA had handed out water contracts to a variety of companies. One of the recipients, not surprisingly, was Nestle Waters North America, easily the continent’s biggest producer, with 15 brands of bottled water and 23 bottling facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

Then, without explanation, FEMA went sole-source, picking a little-known, family-run firm called Lipsey Mountain Water. The company, based in Norcross, Georgia, had just 15 full-time employees, no production capacity and no distribution network. Instead, it was aggressively soliciting other companies to supply its needs.

“The father and son came in and said, ‘We want you to sell us water,’” recalls Kim Jeffery, president and C.E.O. of Nestle Waters North America. “I said, ‘Why would I do that? I have a contract with FEMA.’ He said, ‘Because we have the contract now.’”

Lipsey trumpeted a sophisticated computer system that would supposedly ensure speedy water deliveries and justify its exclusive five-year contract. But the system did not work so well during the recent crisis, according to some in the industry. Joe Doss, president of the trade group for water suppliers, says his members were besieged with reports of delays in water deliveries after the hurricane, and that within one 24-hour period they voluntarily trucked in 1.5 million bottles. (And again, when Hurricane Wilma swept through Florida in late October, distribution sites turned people away without water days after the event.)

Lipsey Mountain Water may be new to the world of federal water contracts, but its principals are not new to politics. The Lipseys are part of a politically connected family that gives regularly to both political parties and owns one of the country’s largest gun wholesalers. The gun lobby is still the nation’s most powerful, as acknowledged by Dick Cheney, who addressed the National Rifle Association’s 2004 annual meeting and noted from the podium: “I’m…delighted to see my good friend, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Joe Allbaugh. Joe is here this evening. It’s always good to have a firearm if you get into real trouble-but the next best thing is Joe Allbaugh.”

In November, the Pentagon confirmed that its inspector general was investigating Lipsey in response to complaints received by Congress from truck drivers, trucking brokers and ice producers who did much of the actual work under Lipsey’s contract and say Lipsey has not paid their bills or even answered their phone calls. (Company president Joe Lipsey III did not respond to a list of questions he had requested from RealNews.)

Only through the painstaking unraveling of connections like these are we likely to grasp the truth about the secretive conflicts of interest that waste billions of public dollars and undermine the country’s readiness to respond to natural and man-made disasters.. Such inquiries are not welcome, of course. Instead, we are all supposed to play Sgt. Schultz, and “see nuuussing.” The Administration’s motto might easily be “Nothing to see here, folks, move along quickly, please.”

Indeed, when a National Public Radio interviewer posed questions about the handling of the storm to Vice Admiral Thad Allen, whom President Bush had assigned to take over the Katrina response from Michael Brown, Allen said that there was no point in dwelling on the past. “I would say that the longer the discourse continues about what might or might not have happened and the political issues surrounding that-I think at some point it starts to devalue the work of a whole lot of FEMA workers out there that are working very, very hard for the American public.’

Yet no one devalued the work of the rank and file of FEMA workers more than the Joe Allbaugh, Michael Brown, and their boss. And the discourse the administration wished to avoid was, and is, urgently needed.

Today, FEMA’s front line troops struggle with the legacy of Katrina, overwhelming challenges and devastated morale. Meanwhile, Joe Allbaugh travels the world, soliciting business, and even the disgraced Brown has announced his move into the consulting business. President Bush has thus far not had to explain anything – and the White House has declined to turn over to Congress key documents about Hurricane Katrina or to make senior officials available for sworn testimony.

URL to article: http://whowhatwhy.com/2006/06/14/unholy-trinity-katrina-allbaugh-and-brown/

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The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation(CSF) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1989.[1] Originally name the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus Foundation, CSF states its goal is to "provide scientific research, wildlife management, public education and conservation information."[1] The foundation mainly focuses on supporting open space wildlife conservation, open space and hunting. It releases an annual report on the economic benefits of hunting.[2]

The CSF allies with a number of other pro-hunting groups, including the Governors Sportmen's Caucus, the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, and the National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses, to form what it calls a "unique and collective force."[3] The Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus has over 250 members in the House and Senate.[1]

The CSF is also represented on four federally chartered advisory councils that deal with recreational hunting and fishing: The Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, the Marine Protected Area, and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee.[3]

Contents [hide]

Gun Lobby

According to its website, CSF works at both the state and federal levels "to protect and advance the interests of sportsmen in legislation that address sportsmen’s conservation issues such as hunting, recreational angling and shooting and trapping."[4] However, the overlap between firearms and hunting leads CSF into the mix of pro-gun groups, such as the National Rifle Association (NRA). Much like the NRA, CSF opposes restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines, a ban on military-style AR-15 rifles and the imprinting of bullets with traceable serial numbers to help solve crimes, proposals that had surfaced in the legislative debate surrounding a failed bill to curb illegal gun trafficking in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary school.[1]

The Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, a CSF ally, regularly sponsors pro-gun legislation in Congress.[1]

"The sponsor and all 27 original co-sponsors of a 2005 bill that shielded the firearms industry from liability suits were caucus members. More than 100 members co-sponsored the Second Amendment Enforcement Act, which was aimed at rolling back gun control measures in Washington, D.C., but died in committee in 2011. Also in 2011, caucus members wrote amendments that would have prevented gun dealers from having to report customers who make multiple purchases of certain weapons in states bordering Mexico, and would have rolled back restrictions on imports of shotguns with tactical features like extended magazine tubes. The N.R.A. issued a statement praising the amendments’ authors."[1]

Board

Top Funders

Contact Information

Main Office:[7]

201 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 101

Washington, DC 20003

Phone: 202-543-6850

Email: csf AT sportsmenslink.org

Articles and References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Mike McIntire, Charity Takes Gun Lobby Closer to Its Quarry, New York Times, March 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation,Reports and Data, Organizational website, Accessed March 7, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, About, Organizational website, Accessed March 7, 2013.
  4. ↑ Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Policies, Organizational website, Accessed May 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Board, Organizational website, Accessed March 7, 2013.
  6. ↑ Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Our Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation Partners, Organizational website, Accessed March 7, 2013.
  7. ↑ Contact, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Accessed March 7, 2013