Scott Fitzgerald: “My amendment addresses the situation with our Nation's military arsenals. We have the Rock Island arsenal in Rock…”

“My amendment addresses the situation with our Nation's military arsenals. We have the Rock Island arsenal in Rock Island, IL. It lies on an island in the Mississippi River between the border of Illinois and Iowa. The Rock Island Arsenal dates back to just about the time of the Civil War. It has been producing outstanding equipment, with outstanding personnel, to our Nation's military for well over 100 years. A few years ago, the military changed its procurement rules to require our Nation's arsenals, when they were bidding on a contract, to provide military hardware to our Army or Defense Department. It requires them to submit bids that not only include their marginal cost for producing the product but, in fact, requires them to add into their bid the entire overhead. This new policy which the Defense Department established a few years ago has actually been harming taxpayers.”