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Defense acquisition reform bill coming from House Armed Services Committee

Committee Chairman Ike Skelton says fixing the acquisition system at the Department of Defense is a bipartisan goal.

Federal News Network Staff

April 19, 2010 5:50 pm

1 min read

wfedstaff | June 3, 2015 1:03 am

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From “House takes aim on Pentagon contracting reform” by Max Cacas on FederalNewsRadio.com:

“It’s rare, indeed, to find topics on which both Republicans and Democrats can find common ground these days. However, fixing the acquisition system at the Department of Defense appears to be one of those rare topics, according to Rep. Ike Skelton (D.-Missouri), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

“And so, says Skelton, was born House Bill 5013 — entitled the IMPROVE Acquisition Act of 2010.

“This measure grew out of the work of a temporary Defense Acquisition Reform Panel within the House Armed Services Committee. That panel was chaired by Rep. Rob Andrews (D.-NJ), who outlined the bill that emerged after the panel’s report and recommendations were adopted by the full Armed Services panel.

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“Andrews cited instances where, for example, where the Pentagon spent hundreds of millions of dollars to transport fuel without a contract, where payment was rendered even before a contract was signed. He was also critical of the fact that it usually takes Pentagon agencies 87 months to deploy hardware or software in information technology.”

I played highlights today of the news conference Max attended, announcing the legislation. You can hear the entire event by clicking on the audio link.