[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          INTRODUCTION OF THE IMPROVE ACQUISITION ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 14, 2010

  Mr. ANDREWS. Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to be joined by a number of 
my colleagues today in introducing the IMPROVE Acquisition Act of 2010. 
On March 23, the House Armed Services Committee's Panel on Defense 
Acquisition Reform completed its work by unanimously agreeing to its 
final report after a year-long investigation of the defense acquisition 
system. We held 14 hearings and 2 briefings and looked at the whole 
spectrum of the acquisition system. We found that while the nature of 
defense acquisition has substantially changed since the end of the Cold 
War, the defense acquisition system has not kept pace.
  It is still a system primarily designed for the acquisition of weapon 
systems at a time when the acquisition of services, and of information 
technology, represents a much larger share of the Department's budget. 
These other areas of acquisition operate very differently from weapons 
acquisition, but are just as complex and just as risky for taxpayers. 
It was clear to our Panel that changes are needed, but the extent and 
complexity of the problem presented a real challenge to us.
  Ultimately, we did find a group of common, overarching issues that we 
were convinced needed to be addressed. Across all categories of 
acquisition significant improvements can and should be made in: 
managing the acquisition system; improving the requirements process; 
developing and incentivizing the highest quality acquisition workforce; 
reforming financial management; and getting the best from the 
industrial base. The IMPROVE Acquisition Act of 2010 goes directly at 
each of these issues.
  It requires DOD to regularly and comprehensively assess the 
performance of the defense acquisition system, and puts the newly 
created Office of Performance Assessment and Root Cause Analysis in 
charge of these assessments. These assessments would not simply be 
material to fill reports to Congress. These performance assessments 
would be linked directly with the things that matter most to the people 
in the system: pay, promotion, and the scope of their authority. A 
similar performance management system is required for the current 
requirements process for weapon systems and the bill requires DOD to 
develop a requirements process for the acquisition of services. These 
systems will now be held accountable to the Department's senior 
leaders. The bill also requires DOD to revisit its acquisition policy 
to correct the bias towards weapons system acquisition, and requires 
DOD to assign actual military units to assist in the development and 
evaluation of major weapon systems.
  The central pillar of the defense acquisition system is the 
acquisition workforce. Only through supporting, empowering, rewarding, 
and holding accountable the acquisition workforce can the defense 
acquisition system be expected to improve. To achieve this, the bill 
gives the Department the flexibility to efficiently hire qualified new 
employees, and to manage its workforce in a manner that promotes 
superior performance. DOD is required to develop new regulations for 
the acquisition workforce which include fair, credible, and transparent 
methods for hiring and assigning personnel, and for appraising and 
rewarding employee performance. The bill also extends and codifies the 
Acquisition Workforce Demonstration Program, which already incorporates 
a number of these important elements, but has been dormant while the 
Department tried to implement NSPS.
  Another key pillar of success for the defense acquisition system is 
the Department's financial management system. DOD's inability to 
provide accurate and timely financial information prevents it from 
adequately managing its acquisition programs and from implementing true 
acquisition reform. The bill requires DOD to establish meaningful 
incentives for the military services to achieve unqualified audits well 
before the current mandate of September 30, 2017. It also requires 
consequences if they do not meet this mandate, which was enacted in the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.
  The last pillar underpinning the defense acquisition system is the 
industrial base. The bill requires the Department to enhance 
competition and gain access to more innovative technology by taking 
measures to utilize more of the industrial base, especially small and 
mid-tier businesses. And in managing that industrial base, the bill 
directs DOD to work with responsible contractors with strong business 
systems. It requires contractors to disclose whether they are 
delinquent on their taxes when they bid on a federal contract.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important 
legislation through the House in the coming weeks.

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