David Thomas: “I rise to discuss an event that happened last week in which I was very disappointed. It was a hearing we had on the FAIR…”

“I rise to discuss an event that happened last week in which I was very disappointed. It was a hearing we had on the FAIR Act or private contracting of Government activities where it is appropriate under what is called the FAIR Act, which was passed in 1998. This was to have been a committee hearing about how you can best do what has been a policy for a very long time; that is, to take those activities within the Federal Government which are not integral to the Government and give the private sector a chance to bid and do those kinds of things. Even though it has not been implemented as it could be and should be, it has been the policy for a very long time--20, 25 years--to do that, to take those things that are not specifically and inordinately Federal activities that could be done and could be done more efficiently by the private sector. So in 1998, we passed a bill called the FAIR Act which required that there be an analysis of all the Government activities in most of the agencies, determine which of those would be eligible for outside contracting, and then move forward on that. I had hoped to testify before the committee. It turned out that I was not available, and also, they thought they had a balance. As I read about it--and I have a couple things I want to put in the Congressional Record--it turned out not to be a balanced hearing at all.”