Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Westmoreland amendment to the fiscal year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. It strikes section 341 which would negatively impact the venerable and highly effective F117 engine that powers the Air Force workhorse personnel and cargo transport, the C-17 aircraft. The existing language requires disclosure of proprietary information which would hamper contract negotiations, having the potential of posing a detrimental impact to the readiness of the fleet.

Today, F117 engines are sustained through an award-winning performance-based logistics contract that minimizes life cycle costs with fixed fees based on flight cycles. This contract type requires comprehensive understanding and investment by the service provider along with the engineering design expertise to develop and implement improvements in response to actual mission experience. It is vital that we use every practical means of providing for the defense of this country and the protection of our warfighters, including the appropriate use of competition and any other contracting method.

In fact, the Air Force has already taken steps to ensure these outcomes are achieved on the C-17 sustainment contract. Just last year, the Air Force held an open and transparent bidding process for the F117 and there was only one bidder. Under the current structure, the F117 service provider is incentivized to reduce total maintenance cost by improving reliability, increasing time on wing, and controlling shop visit cost. All of these factors have been good for the Air Force by minimizing operational disruption and reducing maintenance crew requirements and logistics infrastructure.

Section 341 of this bill jeopardizes the efficiencies and success the F117 performance-based logistics contract has achieved. This language could be interpreted as requiring the Air Force to significantly change contract structure for maintenance instead of requesting a robust price reasonableness assessment as is already required by procurement regulations. Changes in the F117 maintenance structure could be less effective in supporting the C-17 and may result in higher sustainment costs and lower readiness. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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