David Loebsack: “I rise this evening in strong opposition to this amendment. Put simply, this amendment would cost taxpayers. It would…”

“I rise this evening in strong opposition to this amendment. Put simply, this amendment would cost taxpayers. It would not be in the best interests of our military readiness, and it is not supported by the Department of Defense. This amendment is extreme in its intention. It overrides every other law on the books in terms of the management of the national defense workload by prohibiting the transfer of the workload from the private sector to the public sector. For years now, Congress and the DOD have established statutes, regulations, and policies for determining the correct mix of the workforce between military contractor and civilian. As the cochair of the Depot and Arsenal Caucus, I am deeply concerned that this amendment would put back into place a severely flawed system that would do significant damage to our organic industrial base, including to our arsenals and depots, at a time when it is critical that we maintain these facilities' capabilities to equip our troops. I proudly represent the Rock Island Arsenal, where thousands of highly skilled people work every day to equip our troops. Our organic industrial base has, time and again, shown its critical importance to our men and women in uniform.…”