David Thomas: “I rise in support of tabling this amendment. I have listened to my esteemed friend from Texas. I am not going back to…”

“I rise in support of tabling this amendment. I have listened to my esteemed friend from Texas. I am not going back to Plato. I will start closer to the current situation. I am surprised, when we talk about giving the private sector an opportunity to compete for contracts put out by the Defense Department, that that is special interest. That is difficult for me to understand. This is defense authorization. It is absolutely the appropriate place to talk about how we do that, how we pay for it, and who does the work. It is also important we get moving with this program. This is not an amendment that came in; this language is in the committee bill. I have worked for several years, as many have, on a fair amendment designed to give the private sector an opportunity to bid on Government businesses. We have been successful. We have had many agencies look at what they are doing instead of doing it internally, instead of putting it out for contract. It seems reasonable. This is competition. The prisons will continue to have the opportunity to compete under a very unfair--for them, favorable--situation. They don't have to pay taxes; they don't have to pay minimum wage; they don't have to do any of the things they do in the private sector. This has been in place since 1934. Talk about a study. The study was not even made by the congressional group. The study did not come up with the real facts. It is time to do something.…”