Political Quotes

“This amendment would help assure that the creation of a new management office within the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization does not result in a centralized bureaucracy at the expense of vital ballistic missile defense capabilities built up over the years across the United States. Concerns about Pentagon centralization have resulted in the Defense Appropriations Committees limiting funds made available for relocations of DOD organizations, units, activities, or functions into or within the National Capital Region. This has been the case in the past and it is again the case in the pending Defense appropriations bill. Another concern has been the use of support contractor services and consultants to escalate centralization in Washington. In 1992, Senator Pryor found an alarming trend of contractor growth in support of the BMDO predecessor organization, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization [SDIO]. His amendment, accepted without opposition, capped the amount of money which could be expended for the procurement of support services for the central SDIO activity. Its intent is still relevant today. Those concerns about DOD centralization are founded on traditional beliefs that government works best when it is not all collocated in the Capital region. Centralization of government and contractor personnel results in higher costs.”