Letter: GSA should lead contract consolidations
A reader writes, "If Congress wants to fix the problem, they will have to consolidate the acquisition line of business in one agency where buyers pay as they go."
Regarding "Acquisition workforce called underdeveloped": There are not too few contracting people. There are too many contracting offices and too many contracts.
[The Homeland Security Department], the Navy, Army, Marines, and every other Air Force base in the country should not have it's own contract shops, nor their own set of [indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity] vehicles.
If Congress wants to fix the problem, they will have to consolidate the acquisition line of business in one agency where buyers pay as they go, and multiple offices operate with consistent rules aiming to compete with levels of service. GSA could accomplish this.
Up until 2003, they were. Then every CO in government decided they needed to copy the GSA model -- only with budgeted funding. Get [the Defense Department] and DHS and the agencies with more important primary missions out of the routine acquisition business. They not only deplete qualified personnel, but they build duplicate contracts and acquisition systems. Other solutions will not work and will spend lots of lots of money. Our acquisition personnel shortage is self-inflicted by bureaucrats with a rice bowl mentality.
Anonymous
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