Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2781 is a commonsense solution to a complicated problem. I am proud to sponsor it with my good friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta). Over the last 10 years, Congress gave veteran and veteran service- disabled veteran-owned small businesses the highest preference to compete for VA contracts. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in the Kingdomware case that this preference applies in all situations, even when VA uses contracts awarded by other agencies. A loophole has emerged in a group of contracts called the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative run by the General Services Administration. Currently, the VA uses the GSA to connect them with suppliers of certain goods and services that they need to purchase. All too often, the GSA is not connecting the VA with enough small businesses that are owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans. The law requires that the VA look for these companies and buy from them when it can, if they are competitive; but when the veteran businesses are not on the GSA list, the VA can't find them or use them. Because of the loophole, well-qualified veteran-owned companies are being passed over. In some cases, VA disregards the GSA contracts and finds veteran-owned companies elsewhere on their own, but this wastes resources by creating contracts similar to what the GSA already has in place.…”