WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A member of Congress Friday called on the State Department to stop doing business with Xe , the North Carolina-based security company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide . Rep. Jan Schakowsky , D-Illinois , on Friday urged the State Department `` not to enter into further contracts '' with Xe . Rep. Jan Schakowsky , D-Illinois , asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whether the State Department had just signed a new $ 20 million dollar contract with Xe for Iraq , saying she is `` very concerned '' that the State Department may be signing new security contracts with Xe , both in Iraq and Afghanistan . `` I urge you not to enter into further contracts with Xe and to immediately review any existing contracts , '' the letter said , according to a copy provided to CNN . `` The behavior and actions of both the company 's leadership and a number of individuals employed by the company have harmed our mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and endangered the lives and welfare of our troops and diplomatic personnel serving overseas . '' The State Department decided in January not to renew a personnel protection contract with Blackwater , as the company was then known , when it expired in May . That decision came amidst an investigation by both U.S. and Iraqi authorities of a 2007 shooting involving Blackwater guards in Baghdad in which 17 Iraqis were killed . The company has repeatedly denied any wrong-doing . The State Department did not immediately respond to a request Friday for reaction to Schakowsky 's questions and criticism . The State Department had said that it would continue a Blackwater air-support contract after the much-larger personnel protection contract ended . Xe spokeswoman Stacy DeLuke told CNN that , `` Right now we have no contracts with the State Department in Iraq . '' DeLuke said the company would review calls for bids to provide security for U.S. officials in Afghanistan . `` The thing is we are totally open to bidding on some of the contracts that may come up in Afghanistan just like anyone else , '' DeLuke said in a telephone interview . The Nation magazine released an article Friday that said the State Department had signed a new contract for Iraq with Xe for $ 20 million to extend an earlier aviation contract . `` The State Department contract is scheduled to run through September 3 . In May , the State Department announced it was not renewing Blackwater 's Iraq contract , and the Iraqi government has refused to issue the company an operating license , '' the article said . The controversy over the role of Blackwater in Iraq was revived earlier this week by a lawsuit filed in Virginia by two former employees accusing Blackwater guards of smuggling weapons and using excessive force in Iraq . And the lawsuit claims Blackwater founder Erik Prince `` views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe . '' Xe said in a statement that it would respond `` to the anonymous unsubstantiated and offensive assertions put forward by the plaintiffs , '' in a brief to be filed August 17 . Blackwater changed its name to Xe in February .
State Department says it will continue Blackwater air-support contract . The U.S. military has been involved in a number of high-profile incidents involving private security contractors since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Xe spokeswoman Stacy DeLuke says firm `` totally open '' to Afghanistan bidding .