Jim Sensenbrenner: “I oppose this amendment. The INS has had a difficulty for a long time in developing and fielding information systems to…”

“I oppose this amendment. The INS has had a difficulty for a long time in developing and fielding information systems to support its programs operation, but this is not the reason to deviate from the rules that this Congress has put in place to govern full and open competition in the government procurement process. Given the difficulties the INS has had in effectively managing and using information technology in the past, the Associate Attorney General for Immigration Affairs should be required to follow all pertinent procurement requirements until such time as he has shown the capability to manage the plan and ongoing information technology investments effectively. Only in this way can we ensure that the hundreds of millions of dollars that will be spent on IT by the new INS and its successors will be spent wisely. That is why we have procurement regulations. They are designed to ensure that the government, and thus the taxpayers, get the best possible product, while the taxpayer is charged the lowest possible price. They are designed to avoid the potential for contracts being steered to friends or relatives. We do not need sole-source bidding, and this is what the Lofgren amendment opens the door for, but open and fair competition in the awarding of contracts.”