Hoekstra: Suspend preferential prison contracts

LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) -- A longtime congressional critic of preferential treatment for a wholly owned government corporation that employs prison inmates wants the Bush administration to suspend the policy during the current economic downturn

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, says any second economic stimulus package should require that Federal Prison Industries compete with the private sector for government contracts.

Hoekstra and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., first took aim at FPI in 1996 because they were concerned about its effect on western Michigan's office furniture industry. Several of those companies are asking the state's congressional delegation to support Hoekstra, a former executive with Zeeland-based furniture maker Herman Miller Inc.
FPI produces more than 80 products and services for sale to the federal government, including clothing and textiles, electronics and electronics recycling.
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