Edolphus Towns: “I rise to support H.R. 3179, the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act. This is a bipartisan, good government bill that…”

“I rise to support H.R. 3179, the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act. This is a bipartisan, good government bill that will permit state and local governments to purchase homeland security and public safety equipment using General Services Administration contract schedules. H.R. 3179 has the support of many state and local governments and the National Association of Counties. It will make it easier for local officials to purchase the items they need to improve safety in their communities, while saving money at the same time. The GSA Schedules are catalogues of more than 4 million commercial goods and services currently available to federal agencies at negotiated discount prices. Since 2002, Congress has enacted 'cooperative purchasing' legislation that authorized state and local governments to purchase IT equipment and disaster recovery items from GSA schedules. This bill further expands that authority to purchase items such as bomb detection equipment, perimeter security systems, and other homeland security goods and services from GSA Schedule 84. It is important to note that this bill imposes no federal mandate and requires no new spending. Participation in the cooperative purchasing program is voluntary for both state and local governments and vendors.”