Henry Waxman: “I rise in favor of the Moran amendment. It is an important amendment, and I urge all Members to vote for it. Mr.…”

“I rise in favor of the Moran amendment. It is an important amendment, and I urge all Members to vote for it. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is simple. It would prohibit federal agencies from using arbitrary quotas to subject federal employees to either public-private competitions or direct conversions. This Administration has directed agencies to review for outsourcing 425,000 jobs by the end of 2004. In March 2001, OMB directed all agencies to contract out at least 5 percent of the jobs capable of being outsourced. That's 42,500 jobs. That quota increases to 10 percent in FY 03--another 85,000 jobs. The use of these quotas has been roundly criticized for their one-size-fits-all approach to improving efficiency in the federal government. Arbitrarily assigning quotas is poor management practice. It demoralizes the workforce and forces reductions where none may be warranted. These quotas will also encourage agencies to contract out the jobs of federal employees through direct conversions, without the often time-consuming public-private competitions. This unfairly denies Federal employees the opportunity to defend their jobs and denies the taxpayer the benefits of such competition.”