31.   Much of the investigation was said to focus on whether Columbia officials improperly inflated expenses reported to government contractors for the purpose of illegally increasing federal reimbursement.

32.   Now two men who audited that effort say in a federal lawsuit that government contractors who were paid hundreds of millions of dollars made the contamination worse.

33.   Other government contractors have already suffered the same fate.

34.   Qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act let private citizens file lawsuits on behalf of the federal government, alleging fraud by government contractors.

35.   Private citizens are permitted to file qui tam lawsuits on behalf of the federal government, alleging fraud by government contractors.

36.   Rockwell was not the only government contractor to grow leery.

37.   Schools nationwide, including the University of Massachusetts, use forms called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which are processed by government contractors.

38.   Scheer said companies already in the county included high-technology corporations and government contractors.

39.   So she called the agency to express her dismay about what she saw as overreaching by the body that investigates federal government contractors for their affirmative action compliance.

40.   The Clinton administration failed in an attempt to reinstate an executive order banning most government contractors from hiring permanent replacements for striking workers.