Continuing resolution causes poor contracting, Denett says

Congress’ next continuing resolution to fund the government is shameful and hurts government contracting, the Bush administration’s procurement policy chief said today. “You don’t get effective contracting if you get the money at the last minute,” Paul Denett, administrator at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said at a Coalition for Government Procurement conference. “Uncertainty leads to poor contracting.” “Shame on them,” he said of Congress. The resolution will fund government operations at fiscal 2007 levels through Dec. 14. It supersedes the current resolution, which expires Nov. 16. Congress included the new continuing resolution for fiscal 2008 in the Defense appropriations conference report. The appropriations bills, in the form of conference reports, are beginning to appear in Congress. Members of the House and Senate earlier this week had worked out differences in their respective versions of the spending bill, but President Bush has threatened to veto it.The conference committee passed the Defense appropriations bill. Neither the House nor the Senate has voted on it. Lawmakers still are working out the differences in the other appropriations bills. Fiscal 2008 started Oct. 1.