Army Purchases of $17,000 Pans Tied to Kentucky Lawmaker
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Representative Harold Rogers of Kentucky directed millions of dollars in business to Kentucky company Phoenix Products Co., one of his campaign contributors, for $17,000 leak-proof drip pans for U.S. Army helicopters when similar products can be bought for about $2,500, according to a competitor.
Robert Skillen, chief engineer at VX Aerospace Corp., a Leesburg, Virginia-based advanced composites manufacturing and design company, said an earmark Rogers added to a 2009 spending bill provided funding to buy the leak-proof pans for the Army from Phoenix Products in McKee, Kentucky. Skillen said his company sells drip pans for $2,471.