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United States
G A 1]General Accounting Office
.AL . Washington, D.C. 20548
Office of the General Counsel
B-233596.2
January 31, 1989
Mr. Joseph Vellone
Rural Telephone Bank Board
2626 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037-1695
Dear Mr. Vellone:
This is in response to your letter of December 1, 1988,
requesting that we reconsider the dismissal of your protest,
B-232596.1, on November 18, 1988. As a representative of
the elected members of the Rural Telephone Bank (RTB)
Board, you had protested the award of a contract by the
Rural Electrification Administration (REA) for development
of a plan for conversion of ownership of the RTB on the
basis of alleged procedural improprieties and undue haste in
the Board's decision to award the contract.
We recognize that you and the other elected members of the
RTB Board are very concerned about the resolution of the
matters you have presented as a bid protest. However, our
consideration of bid protests is limited to those brought
by interested parties, who are actual or prospective
offerors whose direct economic interest would be affected by
the award of a contract. See the Competition in Contracting
Act of 1984, 31 U.S.C. § 3551(2) (Supp. IV 1986), and our
Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. § 21.0(a) (1988). The RTB
is an agency of the United States subject to the supervision
and direction of the Secretary of Agriculture (7 U.S.C.
§ 943(a) (1982)), and as observed by REA in its December 16
letter to us and as you acknowledged in your letter of
January 10, 1989, the RTB Board does not meet the definition
of an interested party. Since your bid protest is not for
consideration by our Office under the statutory and
regulatory authority cited, your request that we reopen the
file and consider the merits of your protest is denied.
In your January 10 letter you also suggested that the
circumstances surrounding this procurement should be subject
to an investigation by the Comptroller General. In
accordance with section 1413(b) of Public Law 100-203, our
Accounting and Financial Management Division is in the
process of completing a study of the operations of the RTB
and is expected to make comments and recommendations
regarding the issue of privatization and the RTB Board's
responsibilities. When the report is published, we will
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