Private relief bill would settle Army contract dispute

A North Carolina weapons manufacturer would be in line for a $1 million payment to settle a contract dispute with the Army under a private relief bill the House Judiciary Committee approved Wednesday.

The measure (H.R. 807), sponsored by Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., passed by voice vote, just as it did June 6 when considered by the committee's Immigration and Claims Subcommittee. The money would go to Rabon Lowry, owner of the Pembroke Machine Co. in eastern North Carolina.

According to McIntyre's office, Lowry had a contract to make 20 mm shells for the Army in the late 1980s. When the Army changed its specifications, he lost the contract.

Lowry has been seeking relief for years, but this year, for the first time, the Department of Defense is not objecting to the legislation.