ms. colvin's immediate office. and that the alleged criminal conduct may extend to irregularities in the awards of contracts for the dcps project. this is a serious problem, madam president. i don't know how the senate can with good conscience vote to confirm anyone with this type of ongoing investigation going on around their immediate office. it may very well turn out that ms. colvin did nothing wrong, but we need to know for sure. this is a really important position. that's why i along with all the republican members of the senate finance committee sent a letter to ms. colvin last week asking for more details about the

ms. colvin at this time. while i do not doubt ms. colvin's qualifications for this position, there is a cloud hanging over her nomination, and i do not believe the senate should move forward with her confirmation until that cloud is removed. since her nomination was reported out of the finance committee several sources including the house ways and means subcommittee on social security, the house oversight and government reform committee and individual whistle-blowers have reported that the social security administration over a six-year period burned through $300 million in a failed attempt to develop and implement the disability case processing system or dcps. some of this happened on ms. colvin's watch as she served as acting commissioner of the s.s.a. sadly, it gets worse. we've heard allegations from s.s.a. officials intentionally misled the inspector general as well as congress about the deficiencies in the development of the dcps in order to facilitate ms. colvin's confirmation here in the senate. these are serious allegations, a