Political Quotes

“Mr. President. I rise today to introduce two bills that would lay a strong foundation to improve the Federal acquisition system. The first bill, the Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act of 2011, S. 761, co-sponsored by Senators Akaka and McCaskill, would create a Federal acquisition management fellows program to develop a new generation of acquisition leaders with government-wide perspective, skills, and experience. The second bill, the Federal Acquisition Institute Improvement Act of 2011, S. 762, co-sponsored by Senators Akaka, McCaskill and Brown of Massachusetts, would provide much-needed organizational clarity to enable the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) to fulfill its mission of facilitating career development and better management of the federal acquisition workforce. The Federal acquisition system is under tremendous stress. Between fiscal years 2000 and 2010, acquisition spending by the federal government expanded by 163 percent, from $205 billion to $535 billion. The necessary costs of military operations, natural disasters, homeland security precautions, and other vital programs will continue to strain the acquisition system in the years ahead. This unprecedented level of purchasing creates abundant opportunities for fraud, waste, and abuse. We have seen far too many outrageous failures in government contracting.…”