House panel takes on DOD procurement reform

Members of the House Armed Services Committee are set to launch a long-term reform effort aimed at the Defense Department, including an emphasis on overhauling the acquisition process.

At an Oct. 29 hearing, Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) announced that Vice Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) would spearhead the initiative, with assistance from ranking Democrat Adam Smith of Washington.

"We cannot afford a costly and ineffective acquisition system, particularly when faced with devastating impacts of repeated budget cuts and sequestration," McKeon said in an opening statement at the hearing. "The Congress, together with the Department of Defense and industry, must be willing to do the hard work to find root causes, look past band-aid fixes and parochial interests, and have the courage to implement meaningful, lasting reform."

McKeon added that the initiative would include a "hard look at acquisition."

In an Oct. 29 opinion piece for Real Clear Defense, Thornberry called for defense acquisition reform as a top priority, noting that as much as 10 percent of federal discretionary spending goes toward military purchasing. He blamed "heavy federal regulations" for driving up costs.

"There are nearly 2,000 pages of acquisition regulations on the books, many of which have not been reviewed in years," Thornberry wrote. "Too often, Congress and the Pentagon respond to cost overruns by adding another law or an additional oversight office. The situation has gotten so bad that in order to supply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, entire new streamlined procurement systems were created in order to circumvent the normal process."

At least one industry group praised the proposed efforts. In an Oct. 29 statement, Professional Services Council CEO and President Stan Soloway urged the committee to consider recommendations PSC issued earlier this year.

"The recognition by Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith of the importance of seriously and thoughtfully addressing the persistent challenges in defense acquisition today is an important first step," said Soloway. "Given constrained resources, massive demographic challenges, and the nature and pace of technology development, now is the time to act boldly, broadly and smartly."