Mikulski Calls for Amendment to Protect Employees at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Mikulski Calls for Amendment to Protect Employees at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

"This A-76 doesn't do justice to our heroes at Walter Reed."

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) took to the Senate floor today with Senator Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) to introduce an amendment to the pending 2007 Department of Defense (DOD) spending bill that would prohibit the U.S. Army from outsourcing 350 federal jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A similar amendment has been included in the House-passed DOD spending bill.

"Our federal employees are on the front lines every day, working hard for America. These hardworking men and women deserve to be treated fairly and, at the very least, deserve to have the same rights that contractors do," said Senator Mikulski. "I will keep fighting to fix the competition process that is shamefully slanted in favor of private contractors."

The Walter Reed employees are scheduled to lose their jobs as a result of an outsourcing contract at the Medical Center. Senator Mikulski's amendment blocks the privatization on the grounds that the bidding process - known as an A-76 privatization review - was unfairly slanted against federal contractors. The contracting out review process not only took more than six years and $7 million to complete, but would cost taxpayers another $5 million to implement. In August, Senator Mikulski organized her colleagues to urge Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey to refrain from moving forward with the outsourcing, scheduled for the end of August, until Congress finished its consideration of the DOD spending bill. The Senate effort was successful, and the Secretary has postponed the move until after Congress completes its work. For a copy of the letter, go to: http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=262475.

"I am not opposed to privatization, but if it occurs with federal jobs then it must be legal and fair. If this privatization effort really saved money, I would support it. But because it is so flawed and so unfair, I am duty-bound to oppose it," said Senator Mikulski. "This competition has wasted taxpayer money and is unfair to federal employees. It doesn't do justice to our heroes at Walter Reed."

Initially, federal employees at Walter Reed won the $120 million contract in 2004. However, the Army's privatization process and review were so lengthy in violation of the time allowed by law, and so costly, that the Army itself tried to cancel the privatization effort, but DOD officials refused its request. Earlier this year, over the objections of Walter Reed's Deputy Garrison Commander, the Army reversed its earlier decision for the employees and awarded the work to a contractor.

Senator Mikulski has been a consistent fighter for federal employees. In 2005, despite a veto threat by the White House, Senator Mikulski secured a major victory for federal employees by including provisions in the Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development (TTHUD) 2006 spending bill to help government workers compete with contractors and provide improved guidelines for a more fair competition process before jobs are contracted out. The provisions are also included in the 2007 TTHUD spending bill, which has passed the full Senate Appropriations Committee and is pending consideration by the Senate.

http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=262496