Chris Stewart: “I had the honor of serving as a B-1 pilot in the United States Air Force for 14 years. My last assignment was working as…”

“I had the honor of serving as a B-1 pilot in the United States Air Force for 14 years. My last assignment was working as a liaison between the Air Force and a multitude of private contractors. And because of this, I saw firsthand the struggles that the military had in successfully implementing A-76 contract requirements. I saw it lead to a slowdown in work that was being performed and, in some cases, actual complete work stoppage. As a conservative, and I want to be clear on this, I have always supported free markets and open competition. But markets can only be free when there's a level playing field, and that is not possible under the current rules regarding A-76 contracting. Neither the military nor the private contractors are well-served by a flawed process that leads to a flawed result, which is the reason why the Department of Defense has spoken out so strongly against this amendment. The Department appreciates the value of A-76 public-private competition as a tool to help the Department's workforce, and I do as well. However, the Department has also identified a number of improvements in policy changes that could lead to implementation before the moratorium is removed. The Department is working hard to put these processes in place. Let's give them a little more time to do that.”