[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 21 (Monday, February 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PROCUREMENT REFORM ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 5, 2007

  Mr. CARNEY. Madam Speaker, the Department of Homeland Security 
purchases $10 billion worth of goods and services per year. 
Unfortunately, the Department's procurement process is rife with 
problems that need to be addressed. Whether buying ice to aid disaster 
victims or cameras and sensors to secure our borders, the Department 
has struggled. The bill I am introducing today is a first step toward 
addressing some of the Department's most pressing needs in this area. 
It is an outgrowth of the excellent bi-partisan work spearheaded during 
the last Congress by then-Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama and then-
Ranking Member Kendrick Meek in the Subcommittee on Management, 
Integration, and Oversight of the Committee on Homeland Security.
  Specifically, this bill requires regular procurement training for the 
Department's acquisition employees and the development of courses for 
both new and experienced employees. To assist the Chief Procurement 
Officer in developing policies and curriculum for the training, it 
establishes a ``Council on Procurement Training'' made up of eight 
component-level chief procurement officers in the Department. In order 
to ensure that training occurs as required, the Chief Procurement 
Officer is required annually to submit a report on training activities 
to the Secretary.
  Selection of able and responsible contractors is, of course, crucial 
to any procurement success. To that end, this bill puts new 
requirements on the Department to review the past performance of all 
offerors seeking contracts. And to ensure that all contractors are on 
an equal playing field, it requires offerors to provide information 
concerning any role the offeror or its employees played in developing a 
contract solicitation or similar document. Further, if an offeror is 
delinquent or in default on any payment of tax, the bill requires 
offerors to disclose this information.
  The bill also directly addresses one area that requires particular 
attention, the use of purchase cards. A Goverment Accountability Office 
(GAO) review released this past July revealed a disturbing lack of 
guidance and controls over their use. It highlighted potential 
incidents of fraud, waste, and abuse that could run into the millions 
of dollars. To address this problem, the bill directs the Department to 
develop and quickly disseminate Department-wide guidance concerning the 
use of such cards. Finally, the bill directs the GAO to issue a report 
on the contracting processes of the Department within six months of 
enactment.
  This bill will not solve all of the problems of the Department's 
procurement operations. It will, however, start the process of reform 
that is badly needed.

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