MCI battles debarment

Beleaguered MCI has at least one supporter as the company fights efforts to have it debarred by the federal government because of its financial and legal troubles.

The conservative Americans for Tax Reform group has sent letters to Stephen Perry, administrator of the General Services Administration, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, opposing debarment of MCI.

The Americans for Tax Reform argue that suspending MCI would hurt employees, taxpayers and national security because of the telecommunications services MCI provides to the Defense Department, intelligence agencies and FBI.

The General Services Administration's inspector general is recommending that the government stop doing business with MCI, the market brand for WorldCom Inc. of Ashburn, Va., due to charges of accounting fraud and other illegal activities. WorldCom filed for bankruptcy last June and the Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating its accounting practices.