[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S10136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMPETITIVE SOURCING INITIATIVE

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in 
the Record an op-ed article from the Government Executive Magazine.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

        [From the Government Executive Magazine, July 28, 2003]

                             Let's Compete

                       (By Senator Craig Thomas)

       A handful of lawmakers are embracing the status quo in an 
     attempt to shield federal agencies, such as the National Park 
     Service, from restructuring the way they provide commercial 
     services.
       This opposition comes as President Bush moves forward with 
     his competitive sourcing initiative. Competitive sourcing, 
     part of the President's management agenda, represents not 
     only an opportunity to improve the way federal agencies 
     operate, but a way to save taxpayer dollars.
       According to an inventory first conducted by the Clinton 
     administration pursuant to the 1998 Federal Activities 
     Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act, 850,000 positions in the federal 
     government were categorized as commercial in nature. These 
     are jobs performing engineering services, writing software, 
     making maps, hanging drywall, mowing lawns and other services 
     ranging from high tech to routine. These are the same jobs 
     offered by private firms and small businesses found in the 
     Yellow Pages in any town in America.
       Under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, 
     competitive sourcing allows federal agencies to consider 
     whether the private sector could be used to create 
     efficiency. This does not preclude federal employees from 
     restructuring their departments and competing to keep the 
     work in-house. As it is now, many federal employees who work 
     in commercial functions are struck in inefficient 
     bureaucracies performing activities that are not inherently 
     governmental.
       For example, the government is considering competitive 
     sourcing to help improve the services available at our 
     national parks. The effort underway at the Park Service to 
     use competitive sourcing as a tool for improving fiscal and 
     operational efficiency comes at a time when the agency is 
     facing a tremendous funding shortfall for maintenance at 
     almost every park. Nationwide, this maintenance backlog is 
     estimated at nearly $5 billion.
       The Park Service faces many challenges while making 
     America's treasures available for million of visitors each 
     year; however, funds are limited for maintenance, security, 
     safety and a variety of other activities. In the past, the 
     Park Service has been instructed by Congress to reduce the 
     in-house performance of its commercial activities, but these 
     efforts have not evolved. It is important that we now allow 
     the Park Service to evaluate its workforce and how best to 
     use its funding.
       As the author of the FAIR Act, I strongly support improving 
     effectiveness and efficiency in government. At the same time, 
     I realize that we need to go about it in the right way. We 
     need to have a clear process with a reasonable timeline and 
     federal employees need to be kept informed. It also is 
     important that any public-private competition involves a 
     level playing field--private sector contractors and the 
     government should be judged on the same requirements.
       At a July 24 hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural 
     Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, I heard from 
     witnesses who explained how the competitive sourcing process 
     works and who corrected misinformation pertaining to the Park 
     Service's competitive sourcing plan. Several witnesses 
     testified that the government, on average, saves nearly 30 
     percent regardless of whether in-house employees or a private 
     contractor win the competition. Although there are some 
     unfront costs associated with conducting these public-private 
     competitions, the long-term savings dwarf these expenses.
       Every president for the last 50 years, Republican and 
     Democrat alike, has endorsed the elimination of commercial 
     functions in the federal workforce, but their plans were not 
     vigorously implemented or enforced. Thus, early half the 
     civilian federal workforce is doing work that could be done 
     by the private sector.
       We should keep in mind that President Bush's competitive 
     sourcing plan is far different than the Clinton 
     administration's reinventing government initiative. President 
     Clinton's plan established an arbitrary quota for eliminating 
     252,000 federal jobs--without any form of competition. By 
     comparison, President Bush has set no such requirement for 
     outsourcing, but has urged federal agencies to review their 
     commercial functions aand open them up for competition.
       Over the past two and a half years, the Interior Department 
     has noted that of the 1,600 full-time employees it has 
     analyzed for competitive sourcing, not one federal employee 
     has been involuntarily dismissed from his or her job. As the 
     case of the Interior Department reveals, agencies try to 
     reassign federal employees to higher priority, inherently 
     governmental positions within their agencies. Some employees 
     transfer to jobs in other federal departments, others take 
     early retirement, or they go to work for a winning 
     contractor.
       The taxpayer is the ultimate lower when competitive 
     sourcing is stymied. Inefficient monopolies that waste 
     taxpayer dollars divert much-needed federal resources from 
     our government's most pressing programs. Through reasonable 
     comeptitive sourcing, I believe federal agencies like the 
     Park Service can increase services to the public, while 
     maintaining the valued resources we all enjoy.
       Let's give good old-fashioned competition a chance.




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