Mike Levin: “I wish to introduce a letter from a coalition called the Competition in Contracting Act Coalition. I want to read this…”

“I wish to introduce a letter from a coalition called the Competition in Contracting Act Coalition. I want to read this letter because it is short and it states our case, I think, very well. The coalition is made up of 28 organizations, 204 businesses that support the Levin-Abraham amendment relative to the mandatory source status of Prison Industries. And this is what the letter goes on to say: Your legislation would allow businesses to compete with the FPI for Federal contracts. Today they are prohibited from doing so. If a product is made in a Federal prison and Federal agencies are forced to buy that product, the only way around the requirement is for an agency to seek a waiver from FPI . . . Your bill would implement a recommendation of the National Performance Review which stated that our Government should "take away the Federal Prison Industries status as a mandatory source of Federal supply and require it to compete commercially for Federal agencies' business." This solution would help manufacturers by eliminating the barrier to competition and allowing the bid process to take place. It would help Government agencies by allowing them to compare price and quality from a broad array of sources.”