Haley Stevens: “I am sad to announce to the Senate that the Department of Defense has requested that we oppose this amendment because it…”

“I am sad to announce to the Senate that the Department of Defense has requested that we oppose this amendment because it would impose a burdensome and relevant complication on the evaluation process. This is a very difficult process to work out. The United States sells over $14 billion in military equipment overseas. We import about $1.3 billion. It is obvious that we have a substantial interest in continuing exports which lower the unit cost of our production that we must buy to maintain our own defense. The defense industry that is engaged in the export also has asked us to oppose this amendment. If a contractor selects a U.S. contractor and the U.S. contractor goes out of business or cannot perform and there is no other U.S. source, the net effect of this amendment would prohibit the prime contractor from seeking a subcontractor abroad from the country of one of our allies. This is a similar provision to the House bill. It will be in conference, and we will work out some of this issue in conference.”