Davis to Treasury: Use Networx

Rep. Tom Davis (R.-Va.), in a letter to Treasury Department Secretary John Snow, has formally asked that the department shelve plans to award a telecommunications contract and, instead, use the procurement vehicles that the General Services Administration provides.

Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said last year that Treasury officials should use the FTS 2001 contract and move to the forthcoming Networx rather than award the Treasury Communications Enterprise contract. Now that Government Accountability Office officials have upheld the protests of contractors who lost their bids for TCE, Davis has renewed his opposition.

"Had Treasury seriously followed my and others' suggestions, Treasury would likely have recorded immediate savings, met its short-term requirements and provided leadership to a most important governmentwide initiative," Davis wrote in the letter, dated March 22.

Davis' objections are to "stovepipe infrastructures that too often are not interoperable" and the creation of duplicative administrative procurement functions, he wrote.

A Treasury spokeswoman said agency officials were reviewing Davis' letter and have not yet responded. Last week, after getting GAO's ruling, an agency spokeswoman said officials were evaluating their options.