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

Floor Speech

Date: May 21, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Defense Government Budget and Spending

Mr. Chair, due to sequester cuts, the Department of Defense (DoD) needs to increase efficiency and lower costs wherever it can, but this costly amendment prevents DoD from hiring the most cost-efficient workforce. It also would prevent DoD from ever correcting, through insourcing, any contract that costs too much or is poorly performed, period--regardless of the increased costs to taxpayers.

According to the Government Accountability Office, DoD reports savings of almost $1 trillion through insourcing in FY10 alone. In 2013, the DoD Comptroller acknowledged in a Senate hearing that civilian employees are significantly cheaper than contractors, particularly for the performance of long-term functions. So why would anyone want to make it impossible for DoD to save money by correcting overly costly or poorly-performed contracts, especially in a time of shrinking defense budgets? DoD can't afford this amendment, and neither can American taxpayers. Please join me in opposing this costly and wasteful amendment.


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