[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 55 (Thursday, May 1, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RETIREMENT OF PAUL KAMINSKI, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR ACQUISITION

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, next week Dr. Paul Kaminski will step down 
after an extraordinary 3-year tenure as Under Secretary of Defense for 
Acquisition. In this short period of time, Dr. Kaminski and his 
acquisition team at the Pentagon have made dramatic steps to turn our 
procurement culture around, making it more flexible, more creative, and 
smarter.
  Under Dr. Kaminski's leadership, the Department of Defense has 
successfully implemented three major pieces of acquisition reform 
legislation: Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, the Federal 
Acquisition Reform Act, and the Information Technology Management 
Reform Act. Those of us who worked hard to enact this legislation 
appreciate the energy that Dr. Kaminski and others have dedicated to 
putting it into practice.
  But the turnaround in the procurement culture has required far more 
than the implementation of new laws. Dr. Kaminski and his team have 
placed the Department of Defense at the forefront of acquisition reform 
by doing the hard work to revise and simplify thousands of military 
specifications, to implement streamlined management practices through 
integrated process teams and the single process initiative, and to make 
acquisition reform work where the rubber meets the road in tens of 
thousands of individual contracts awarded every year.
  Under Dr. Kaminski's leadership, the Department of Defense has 
substantially reduced acquisition lead times, reduced the layers of 
redtape that have often burdened the acquisition system, accelerated 
the process of incorporating emerging commercial technologies into 
weapons systems, and simplified the small purchases through the use of 
the IMPAC credit card. Most impressive of all, Dr. Kaminski has 
achieved all of this while skillfully managing a steep reduction in the 
size of the acquisition work force--the career professionals who have 
borne the brunt of implementing the new acquisition system.
  The Congress and the Nation owe Dr. Kaminski a debt of gratitude for 
his selfless service to the interests of the taxpayer and the national 
defense. I know my colleagues join me in wishing Paul all the best in 
the future.

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