[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 28 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO PAUL FRANCIS

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the dedicated 
public service of Paul Francis, who will soon retire as managing 
director for acquisition and sourcing management with the Government 
Accountability Office, GAO, a position he has held since 2009. For more 
than 42 years, Paul has helped the U.S. Congress analyze the $2 
trillion in the ships, planes, tactical vehicles, satellites, and 
scores of other systems and related services that the Department of 
Defense, DOD, has procured to make our Nation safe. In so doing, Paul 
has obtained the respect of the Members of this body and the deep 
affection of his colleagues, who for decades have hewed to his fine 
example of public service.
  An important congressional oversight tool that Paul helped develop at 
GAO almost 15 years ago is its annual ``Quick Look'' assessment of the 
Pentagon's procurement of its most expensive, most complicated weapon 
systems. In these reports and in the hundreds of individual reports 
that GAO has released on major defense acquisition programs, Paul's 
teams first identified, and railed--occasionally like a lone voice in 
the wilderness--against the proliferation of ``concurrent development'' 
throughout the Pentagon's portfolio of major procurement programs. As 
Paul and his team observed, this acquisition strategy, which features 
an excessive overlap between development and production, has exposed 
the DOD's largest weapons procurement efforts to an undue, high risk of 
discoveries late in production, often requiring costly redesign, 
production cut-ins and retrofits--driving up the costs of these 
programs exponentially, especially those executed carelessly under 
cost-plus contracts. These observations have been vital to Congress's 
attempts to reform, among other programs, the joint strike fighter and 
the aerial refueling tanker programs and provided Congress with a 
valuable framework for analyzing and overseeing how the DOD spends 
hundreds of billions of taxpayers' dollars each year.
  Since first becoming a member of the Senior Executive Service in 
2002, Paul has testified before Congress more than 20 times--sounding 
the alarm on everything from unmanned aerial vehicles, the Army's 
Future Combat System, shipbuilding and missile defense programs, and 
broader issues of acquisition best practices and reform. For more than 
a decade, I have relied greatly on his clear analysis and 
recommendations related to the Ford-class aircraft carrier and littoral 
combat ship programs.
  In addition, Paul has been an excellent witness, who counterbalances 
the Pentagon's complicated, technical, and bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo, 
which I sometimes think the DOD purposefully uses to resist being 
understood by a layperson, with cogent, plainspoken, evenhanded, but 
nuanced assessments. Time and again, Paul has thoughtfully illustrated 
the practices that should be followed to ensure success, as well as how 
poorly aligned bureaucratic incentives lead to failure despite well-
intentioned individuals. Also noting that all individuals participating 
in the defense acquisition process ``see their needs as rational and 
aligned with the national interest, collectively'' and that ``these 
needs create incentives for pushing programs and encouraging undue 
optimism, parochialism, and other compromises of good judgment,'' Paul 
has reminded us that the problems we see in the defense acquisition 
process are not the fault of any one actor--they are the collective 
responsibility of all of us.
  Paul epitomizes what Congress and the American public value about the 
Government Accountability Office--the honest broker. In believing that 
oversight of programs funded by taxpayer dollars represents a sacred 
trust and in embracing this responsibility aggressively with joy, Paul 
has been a tireless, effective advocate for both the American taxpayer 
and the men and women in service to the government's many and varied 
missions. He has inspired his teams with this notion of resource 
stewardship, that American taxpayers should get what they have paid for 
and American warfighters should get the capabilities they need to 
defend this great Nation.
  Paul has received numerous GAO awards during his career, including 
the Comptroller General's Award and the John Henry Luke Mentoring 
Award. Leading by example at GAO, he models his own motto, which is 
``Be right. Communicate well. Don't leave people in body bags.''
  Throughout his remarkable career with GAO, Paul has been supported by 
a wonderful family, including his wife, Vicky, and two daughters, Sheri 
and Katie--all of whom are engaged in public service in various ways. 
We wish Paul a fond farewell and thank him for his distinguished 
service to Congress and the American public. Thank you.

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