Rep. Towns now chairs key panel on procurement oversight
As a House subcommittee chairman, he held numerous hearings on contracting reforms.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) is the new chairman of the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee and will continue to work on
contracting reform, the congressman has announced.
“There is a great deal of work to be done to ensure a smooth
transition, and I look forward to working with both my Democratic and
Republican colleagues in concert with the Obama administration to
ensure the federal government is transparent, responsive and
efficient,” he said in a statement Dec. 10.
Towns said he
intends to focus on contracting reform, oversight of departments,
agencies and the private sector, and the rights and duties of federal
employees.
Towns announced his decision to pursue the
chairmanship Nov. 20, after the previous chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman
(D-Calif.), became chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Towns
has been a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for
the past 26 years.
Most recently, he was the chairman of the
panel's Government Management, Organization and Procurement
Subcommittee. He held hearings about numerous contracting reforms,
including closing s loopholes in dealing with fraud by contractors and
giving minority-owned small businesses more opportunities in federal
contracting. Towns also supported legislation that allowed state and
local governments to buy security products from some General Services
Administration Multiple Award Schedules contracts, which ultimately
became law.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is the committee’ new
ranking member, taking the place of Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who retired
from Congress. Issa was the ranking member committee’s Domestic Policy
Subcommittee.
Issa said he intends to help the Obama administration root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
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