Daniel Akaka: “I have repeatedly voiced my opposition to the Administration's aggressive outsourcing agenda which I believe comes at…”

“I have repeatedly voiced my opposition to the Administration's aggressive outsourcing agenda which I believe comes at too high a cost to Federal workers and to Government accountability and cost-effectiveness. My concerns are confirmed by a February 2004 General Accounting Office, GAO, report entitled, ``Competitive Sourcing: Greater Emphasis Needed on Increasing Efficiency and Improving Performance,'' GAO-04-367. I highly recommend this report to my colleagues. The GAO reviewed the Federal outsourcing agenda at seven agencies: the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Interior, Agriculture, Education, and Veteran's Affairs. These agencies contain 84 percent of Federal jobs eligible for outsourcing. The administration has identified 304,800 Federal jobs for outsourcing at the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Interior alone, which represent nearly 42 percent of the total workforce of these agencies. GAO found that the examined Federal agencies are focusing more on implementing Office of Management and Budget, OMB, mandates on the number of competitions at the expense of cost-efficiency.”