From: Allison George [acgeorge@oge.gov]
Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 4:12 PM
To: loftinm@af.pentagon.mil; redufresne@aol.com; cposton@desc.dla.mil;
Kenneth.Schmalzbach@do.treas.gov; masong@DODGC.OSD.MIL;
susan.winchell@ed.gov; Love.peggy@epa.gov; wernick.kenneth@epa.gov;
eugenia.ellison@gsa.gov; maria.vallecillo@gsa.gov;
richard_saviet@hq.dla.mil; susan_chadick@hq.dla.mil;
lraffert@hq.nasa.gov; carney.katharine@HQ.NAVY.MIL;
LaCroix.David@HQ.NAVY.MIL; reresm@hqda.army.mil;
shayla_simmons@ios.doi.gov; james.adams@mail.va.gov; dmmercu@nsa.gov;
djohnson@omb.eop.gov; afchatte@opm.gov; bckumar@opm.gov;
wmplunke@opm.gov; eswindel@os.dhhs.gov; epsteins@osdgc.osd.mil;
bill.register@ost.dot.gov; david.litman@ost.dot.gov;
Shaws@pentagon.af.mil
Subject: contractor meeting follow-up

conflicts of interest issues that can arise in connection with certain 
kinds of Federal contractors.  As to be expected, there were almost 
as many viewpoints as there were agencies represented at the 
meeting.  We expect that there will be further discussion about 
these issues in the future and welcome your comments at any time.
At this point, however, we would simply like to follow-up on two 
proposals mentioned during the meeting: 

(1) the sharing of ethics materials related to contractors and 
(2) the identification of potentially difficule.

I. Contractor Ethics Materials

We would like to collect some of the resource materials pertaining 
to Government contractors that you described in last week's meeting.  
We believe the sharing of best practices and resources will be a 
significant means of aiding both Government employees and contractor
personnel in understanding some of the issues already identified and 
addressed by other agencies.  We also believe a clearinghouse will 
help agencies develop innovative strategies for dealing with potential 
conflicts that arise in future privatizations and outsourcing efforts.  
Ultimately, we would like to make these materials available on OGE's 
web site.  Accordingly, please make sure that the information you 
provide is publicly available.  

In that regard, we request your assistance in assembling relevant 
materials.  Helpful documents may include model contract provisions 
relating to ethics or conflicts of interest, non-public information 
agreements, policies, disclosure requirements, memoranda, PowerPoint 
presentations and other training materials, etc.  We envision 
collecting only those documents that deal with contractors who are 
performing services similar to those performed by Government employees, 
or who are working side-by-side with Government employees, whether 
on Government property or offsite.  A supply contract is an example 
of a document that probably would not be useful in this endeavor.  
To the extent that documents such as contracts are lengthy, 
it would be helpful to provide only the relevant portions.

We recognize that some helpful documents may be created by 
ethics officials, whereas others may be drafted or utilized by 
contracting officers, procurement specialists or others.  We would 
ask that you check with the appropriate officials at your agency 
so that all materials, wherever they reside, can be included.

Finally, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that the 
documents on Government web sites comply with certain requirements 
so that persons with disabilities are able to access and use the 
information.  Accordingly, we would appreciate it if the documents 
you share with us could be provided in accessible PDF, HTML, or 
text format.  Please e-mail any such documents in their electronic 
form to me at acgeorge@oge.gov.  

II.	Challenging Situations

As you may recall, another issue raised during the September 17th 
meeting was the request for possible new approaches to address the 
problems that can arise when Government and contractor personnel 
work side-by-side.  In order to help OGE further explore what might 
be helpful to agencies in this regard, we would like you to identify 
what scenarios (if any) are causing, or have caused, the most 
difficulty for your agency, and, if relevant, how you have resolved 
them.  Please send this information to my attention at the Office 
of Government Ethics, 1201 New York Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, 
D.C.  20005-3917. 

If you have any questions about either of these requests, 
please do not hesitate to contact me at (202) 208-8000, ext. 1202.  
Thank you, in advance, for your assistance.



Allison C. George
U.S. Office of Government Ethics
1201 New York Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, D.C.  20005-3917
Tel (202) 208-8000, x1202
Fax (202) 208-8037