On the recordJuly 6, 2011
Within the last month, the House has voted to strike problematic and anticompetitive A-76 language from H.R. 2017, the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, and from H.R. 2112, the Agriculture appropriations bill. The same change and reversal of bad policy should be adopted in this legislation by striking section 8015. My amendment does just that. As drafted, section 8015 prohibits the Department of Defense from contracting out any function unless it will save a minimum of $10 million or 10 percent of the department's performance costs even if the contractor is less costly overall and can perform the work more efficiently. Independent studies have found that public-private competitions lower costs by between 10 and 40 percent regardless of whether the competition is won by a private contractor or the government. Rather than stand in the way of public-private competitions, Congress should cut the redtape and make the use of this cost-saving process easier, not harder. The requirements in section 8015 are largely codified in existing statute. Retaining section 8015 will obstruct and potentially nullify any current efforts to reform the system in ways that improve public- private competitions and bring much needed consistency and reliability to the process. Instead of complicating the use of competitions that improve service and lower costs, we should be encouraging agencies to find the most efficient way to deliver services.…
