Alan Grayson: “This is a simple good government provision. It says that when a contractor goes over budget or is behind schedule the…”

“This is a simple good government provision. It says that when a contractor goes over budget or is behind schedule the contractor should not be rewarded for that. None of the funds made available in this act may be used to pay for bonus awards to contractors who work on projects that are behind schedule or over budget. The provision that we are talking about here appears in the Senate Transportation, Housing Appropriations bill that was reported out of the committee in the Senate last week. It should appear in our bill and it should be signed into law. Nothing in this amendment places a blanket ban on bonuses to contractors. What this amendment does, however, is to demonstrate that Congress expects Federal projects to be delivered on time and on budget. We have heard so many words over the years in this Chamber about waste, fraud, and abuse. This simple amendment accurately cracks down on those examples of waste, fraud, and abuse that arise and prevents taxpayer money from being squandered. If projects are not delivered on time and on budget, this amendment simply ensures that bad contractors are not rewarded extra for that poor performance. With regard to the terms that are used, the term ``bonus award'' refers to the Federal acquisition regulation, title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, subpart 16.4, having to do with incentive contracts. That term is defined in that provision.…”