Barbara Mikulski: “We will move briskly. This is to fix a terribly botched competition for Federal jobs at the Walter Reed Army Medical…”

“We will move briskly. This is to fix a terribly botched competition for Federal jobs at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This competition has wasted taxpayer money. It is unfair to Federal employees, and we urge that it stop. We are opposed to this because it has gone on too long, it is unfair, it has broken the rules, and cost taxpayers an incredible amount of money. I do wish at this time, though, to pay tribute to the distinguished Senators, the chair and the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Stevens and Senator Inouye. We have had no finer, more hard-working champions for Walter Reed and military medicine than those two men. So in raising this amendment, we understand where they are and why they also don't want to get into individual privatization issues, but this was such an egregious, unfair process, we felt we had to do this. This amendment would privatize 350 jobs at Walter Reed, mostly landscapers and maintenance workers. Why is this A-76 so flawed? Well, the competition has broken the rules. It has gone on and on and on. It is deeply flawed. It is disastrous. It started in June of 2000. It has lasted more than 6 years, beyond a full Senate term and longer than a President's term. OMB says that it should not have gone on more than 12 months, but this competition has gone on for more than 6 years.…”