More Cost Overruns Plague FBI Computer Modernization Project

Statement

Senator Chuck Grassley issued the following statement after the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Justice released the ninth interim report on the implementation of the FBI's Sentinel Project, the FBI's attempt to upgrade its computer system. Grassley is Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee which has jurisdiction over the FBI.

"More than a decade after the FBI began upgrading its computer system, we're still talking about cost overruns, hidden fees and delayed results. In its latest report, the Inspector General detailed that the cost of Sentinel is at least an additional $60 million over budget. In addition, looking ahead, the report shows that the FBI has failed to include costs such as the $30 million annual operating fee, and costs to continue operating legacy systems that were originally slated for incorporation into the Sentinel Project but were eliminated. Costs like this are sprinkled throughout the project's future budgets. Unfortunately, it looks like this isn't close to the end of the taxpayers' commitment to this project, which has already been hundreds of millions of dollars."

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