David Thomas: “Unfortunately, this reinventing Government is not achieving its purpose. It is recreating big Government. The current…”

“Unfortunately, this reinventing Government is not achieving its purpose. It is recreating big Government. The current A-76 process, which is the system that is supposed to be used to decide if a function can be done more cost effectively and more efficiently in the private sector, may not even have been used by the FAA before awarding the contract to the Department of Agriculture. And when A-76 is used, it does not provide a level playing field for comparing Government and the private sector. Finally, the GAO has strongly criticized the Department of Agriculture's management of its current information technology. We shouldn't be giving them more work when they can't handle their current assignments. So my legislation would address these issues. The legislation would stop entrepreneurial Government dead in its tracks, create a best value comparison between Government and private enterprise based on fair accounting systems, based on qualifications, based on past performance. There are certainly activities within the Government that are inherently Government functions and should be done by the Government, but there are many others that are commercial in nature. They are as commercial as anything in the private sector could be. So this legislation will lead to more efficient Government, will inject fair competition into Government monopolies and continue to reserve a Government role for inherently governmental functions.”