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Providing for Passage Of H.R. 2101, Weapons Acquisition System Reform Through Enhancing Technical Knowledge and Oversight Act of 2009

Floor Speech

Date: May 13, 2009
Location: Washington, DC

PROVIDING FOR PASSAGE OF H.R. 2101, WEAPONS ACQUISITION SYSTEM REFORM THROUGH ENHANCING TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND OVERSIGHT ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - May 13, 2009)

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Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for giving me this time.

We hear a lot about waste, fraud and abuse in Federal Government, and this bill that I support, H.R. 2101, answers just that. I think it is critically important legislation to reform the Pentagon's major weapons acquisitions systems.

By now we have all heard the alarming reports from the GAO, the statistics that show that 96 of the Department of Defense's major weapons systems experienced $296 billion in cost growth and an average of 22 months' delay in delivering these weapons to our warfighters. At a time when so much has been asked of the American taxpayer, we can do better, and we must do better. Runaway cost growth for many of these major weapons systems threatens other vital defense priorities at a time when our men and women in uniform are involved in active combat both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chairman Skelton and Ranking Member McHugh and my colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee recognize the Pentagon's acquisition process is on an unsustainable path. The most important element to this legislation, in my view, is the strict oversight and accountability applied to the early development stage of major weapons acquisitions.

This legislation requires the Department of Defense to track cost growth and schedule changes that happen prior to milestone B, the point in the process when the systems and development start. This is critical because 75 percent of the systems costs are locked in as systems emerge from the development stage.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 2101 represents a strong bipartisan approach to reforming major weapons systems acquisition. But it is only a start. As a member of the Armed Services Committee's Defense Acquisition Panel, I will continue to work with Chairman Rob Andrews and Ranking Member Mike Conaway to review where action is needed to ensure greater return on our investment.

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