A panel of lawmakers concluded that it was not easy doing business with the Defense Department, especially for small and medium sized business. The DoD also did a poor job of nurturing the Defense Industrial Base, the network of companies that support national defense.

The research report was prepared by a panel appointed by the House Armed Services Committee. It also found contractors believed the Pentagon had too few contracting, acquisition and engineering experts. Ironically, much of that expertise was outsourced to contractors.

The panel learned that small and midsize businesses encountered unique hurdles in dealing with defense contracting. DoD wasunable to meet it small business procurement goals in recent years. Since many DoD contacts tend to be on the large size, the Small Business Administration's limit of $2 million for surety bonds was frequently insufficient in helping small businesses trying to secure DoD contracts.

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