State Dept. blame game - NY Post Article

Job losses? Redistribution of your wealth?

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department is blaming US firms for failing to compete for a $5.4 million agency contract for custom embassy glassware -- even though the department never put the contract up for open bidding.

The contract caused an uproar last month because New York's Steuben Glass and other US manufacturers got stiffed, while the tiny DC firm that got it without competitive bidding doesn't even make glass, and sent the work to Sweden.

"We had conversations with a wide range of companies on this contract but at the end of the day they chose not to bid," said State spokesman P.J. Crowley.

But in comments that were anything but crystal clear, Crowley also acknowledged that Systems Design Inc. got the contract under the 8(a) minority/disadvantaged program, where awards are, by definition, not competitively bid.

"We take our commitment to awarding contracts to all types of American small businesses very seriously," Crowley said.

Fumed one source familiar with the process, "I can emphatically tell you that they never put this out to bid."

Last month, after learning about the deal from a press release, Steuben called for "a fair opportunity for businesses like Steuben Glass to bid on the contract and to help us maintain American jobs rather than sending them overseas."

As The Post exclusively revealed this week, the feds have yet to receive a single glass after paying $800,000 so far. NYPost