Federal Out-Contracting

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I think the Senator from Maryland has raised a very legitimate point about the use of arbitrary quotas or numerical targets to guide the contracting-out activities of Federal agencies. It seems to me that having one target for every agency may well be counterproductive and not result in the greatest efficiencies.

On the other hand, I am concerned that the amendment of the Senator from Maryland may have some unintended consequences. It could be read as rejecting the notion of ever having competitive contracting, to see whether a specific function is best performed in-house or contracted out to the private sector.

I am also concerned that it could have an impact on other laws, although I know that is not the intent of the Senator from Maryland.

We have consulted with the General Accounting Office and have come up with some language to try to deal with this. I do want to assure the Senator from Maryland, as the new chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, I want to work with her to try to resolve this issue because the issue she has brought to our attention is a legitimate one. So I hope to continue, in my new capacity, to work with her, to work with the Senator from Wyoming, to work with the Senators from Virginia who have also expressed concerns about this issue.