Subject: Fwd: Next step
From: "Virginia Verdeja" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Eric D. Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 19:02:39 -0500

FYI.  Sorry, I forgot to include you in the distribution list.

Best,
Virginia

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Virginia Verdeja" <[email-masked]>
> Date: October 2, 2010 3:16:12 PM CDT
> To: "Hilary Rosen" <[email-masked]>, "Alex Slater" <[email-masked] 
> >, "Nell McGarity" <[email-masked]>, "Singham, Shanker A." <[email-masked] 
> >
> Cc: <[email-masked]>, "Jitendra Tomar" <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Next step
>

> As promised, I am enclosing an explanation of the facts in laymen’s  
> terms so that we can all understand how big this issue may be.  I th 
> ink, once you read this you can see why we are excited about it.
> Please let me know if you need any clarification on the issues.
> We are ready to go on the offensive.  First thing should be making  
> Carter aware that, based on the content of yesterday’s FTA letter, w 
> e think we can force FTA to order WMATA to cancel the $1.4 billion K 
> awasaki contract and take a huge political hit OR exonerate CAF in t 
> he Houston matter.  We need to do this first thing Monday, Tomar and 
>  I are attending an APTA Conference and it would be the ideal settin 
> g to let the cat out of the bag.
>
> There are 7 facts that must be clearly understood in order to grasp  
> the significance of this latest development:
>
> In all projects involving FTA funding, Car Builders are asked to  
> either:
> Certify that they will comply with Buy America, or
> Certify that they will not comply with Buy America
> According to FTA Rules, once a Car Builder certifies one way or the  
> other, they can not change their certification.  (See highlight in  
> attached “FTA Rule-Can’t Change Certification.pdf”).
> This rule is very important because if a Car Builder certifies that  
> it will comply with Buy America and wins the contract, it would be  
> unfair to the other bidders if that Car Builder were allowed to  
> change its certification.  The basis for the competition would change
> In Dorval Carter’s letter to CAF yesterday (October 1, 2010), on pag 
> e 3 he says that the reason FTA was justified in meeting with WMATA/ 
> Kawasaki is that Kawasaki certified that they would not comply with  
> Buy America and therefore were eligible to discuss a waiver. (See hi 
> ghlight in attached “Carter Letter to CAF.pdf”)
> In Dorval Carter’s letter to WMATA on July 23, 2010, he says that Ka 
> wasaki had certified that they would comply with Buy America and the 
> refore would not need a waiver. (See highlight in attached “Carter L 
> etter to WMATA.pdf”)
> If Dorval Carter is telling the truth in the CAF letter, then  
> Kawasaki changed its certification at the 11th hour which is against  
> FTA rules and unfair to the other bidders.  This would require the  
> contract to be rebid.  FTA knows that Bombardier and Alstom would be  
> quick join the fray if they smelled blood in the WMATA/Kawasaki  
> contract.
> If Dorval Carter is lying in the CAF letter, then this yet another  
> instance of FTA attempting to apply the law differently in 2 similar  
> projects.  The difference here is that the evidence is in his own  
> hand (not ours) and he has liberally distributed the letter on the  
> Hill and beyond making a retraction difficult.
>
> I’m getting on a flight to Dallas/San Antonio and will try to call f 
> rom Dallas in 3 or 4 hours.
>
> Best,
>
> Virginia Verdeja
> Vice President, Sales|CAF USA
> 202-326-7401(O) | 202-905-5950 (C) | [email-masked]
> 1401 K Street NW, Suite 1003, Washington, DC 20005
>
>
>