[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 116 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E638-E639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING STOP PENTAGON PRICE GOUGING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 6, 2023

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Stop Pentagon 
Price Gouging Act'' with Representative DeLuzio (D-PA-17) as the 
original cosponsor. I thank U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 
Mike Braun (R-IN) for sponsoring the companion bill. These important 
reforms will protect taxpayers from being overcharged for goods 
procured by the Department of Defense.
  Our bicameral, bipartisan bill would close loopholes in current 
acquisition laws, tie financial incentives for contractors to 
performance, and provide the Department of Defense (DoD) with the 
information necessary to prevent future rip-offs. Our bill would make 
several key reforms to achieve those goals.
  First, our bill would ensure competitive and transparent pricing by 
closing a loophole and ensuring that defense contractors provide the 
federal government cost or pricing information in all cases where there 
isn't adequate price competition that results in at least 2 competitive 
bids. Second, the bill would restore market dynamics and ensure that 
commercial goods are those actually sold to customers other than just 
the federal government, revising the definition of commercial item for 
federal procurement by the Department of Defense. Third, the bill would 
ensure payment is tied to performance by creating a new pilot program 
for progress payments, which will help to tie payments to performance 
by providing contractors the opportunity to receive advance payments 
only when they meet certain conditions such as providing timely 
responses, disclosing important data, and meeting small business 
subcontractor goals. Lastly, the bill would ensure that our defense 
dollars are being spent to provide our armed forces with the resources 
they need and not to line the pockets of defense contractor executives, 
requiring disclosures from defense contractors mirroring those already 
required by publicly traded companies.
  Taken together, this bill will be an important step in tackling price 
gouging, overbilling, or outright fraud by defense contractors. As a 
senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I know how much we 
pay for parts to keep military equipment ready. We know

[[Page E639]]

that taxpayers are routinely overcharged due to loopholes in current 
law and federal procurement regulations. We cannot allow taxpayer money 
to be wasted to inflate the bottom lines of multinational defense 
contractors. Our service members need the tools to properly negotiate 
prices. This is just common sense, and that's why we are reintroducing 
this bill today.
  Mr. Speaker, Representative DeLuzio and I look forward to working 
across the aisle to advance these key reforms in the ``Stop Pentagon 
Price Gouging Act.'' I encourage all members to join us in cosponsoring 
this commonsense bill.

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